In the Bare Bones House of Was

In the Bare Bones House of Was is a collection of poems that broadly addresses ideas of place, politics, and the passage of time, while intimately reflecting on the ghosts and histories that reside beside the poet in her very old house In Virginia, and that remain a constant in a culture of the American South. The eponymous poem—as well as many other poems in this collection—emerged from extensive historical research concerning the house, farm and lands. In that process the poet discovered that the past is truly ever-present; this idea radiates throughout the collection as she investigates and explicates questions of love, loss, betrayal, and truth through the lenses of history, race, and ethnography, as well as from a personal perspective. These poems are also dedicated to exploring the many ways we broadly define love and justice in the human narrative and our emotional responses to one another in the context of present-day social mores and expectations. Thus, the poems are not merely based on a general explication of human ecology but are also grounded by the poet’s own experiential reference points and contexts for discernment; thirty years ago she moved from the far north to Virginia, and she commutes to a teaching position in Philadelphia. The obvious contrasts between my two lives informs her writing and provides her unique insights into some of more pressing, painful and enduring social issues we face in America.