A Mind Like This

Winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry, Susan Blackwell Ramseys A Mind Like This is a work of humor and wit, unexpectedly delightful and full of surprises as it reflects on the oddness of everyday life, the natural world, literary history, popular culture, and more. Everything is fair game for Ramsey, who finds poetry in love and sickness and life, of course, but also in knitting and unreliable bladders and the peculiar name of Kalamazoo. Neruda makes an appearance, as do Eric Clapton and Brahms, Leonard and Virginia Woolf, and Jimmy Stewart. Whether observing the pickled heads of Peter the Greats offenders, wondering How to Seduce Henry David Thoreau, becoming the insecure voice of Kalamazoo, or puzzling over the intricacies of the mind that blocks a dear friends birthday while preserving the name of Emily Dickinsons dog in perpetuity, Ramseys collection is wise and funny, allusive and deeply felt.