The Things I Didn't Know to Wish For

In The Things I Didn't Know to Wish For, Linda Hillringhouse follows May Sarton's dictate to "dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be." The first poem of the book, "New Dress," serves as the origin story for the poems that follow. The young girl of the poem is confronted with a truth that will govern her life. It is the devastating fallout from this truth that drives many of the poems in this collection. Hillringhouse comes out from behind her language to face what must be faced if she is to make meaning of her life. And it is in the dangerous beating heart of her poems where she finds meaning and even glimpses of salvation.