Penitential Cries

A stirring, lyric new collection by Susan Howe, one of America’s foremost poets

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN/VOELKER AWARD FOR POETRY

What labor to live forever. Speak of the elect what can you do in all this world so much life in the little of it.

In four parts, Susan Howe’s new book opens with the arresting long prose poem “Penitential Cries,” followed by a group of word-collages “Sterling Park in the Dark,” “The Deserted Shelf,” and finally a brief sparrow poem. Speaking of her new work written...