Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Weaves a Clear Night

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

September 2011

Abstract

Set in modern-day Appalachia, this chapbook in seventeen sections imaginatively recasts the myths surrounding Penelope's fidelity to Odysseus. Lyrical, meditative, and deeply sensual, the poems follow the emotional isolation of a woman poised between two men, neither of whom can be a part of her daily life. The you in this collection is a secret love, the he is Odysseus, and the son is Telemachus. Despite the absence of the lover and the husband, their presence surrounds her. The result is a poetic narrative where memory and future fears disrupt the very existence of a physical present. Highly imagistic, Pence's writing displays precision, structure, and grace along with depth and narrative ambition.

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