In poems that are beautifully smart and wondrously sensual, Lovell invites readers into a world of love, loss and possibility. Set against a backdrop of art, science and fairy tale, these poems hang like “little rainbow[s]” in a dark sky. There are risks and safety nets, there are close calls—too many to count. Yet, Lovell is a poet who “still believes in light,” still believes in the delicious possibility of flight.
Karla Huston, Wisconsin Poet Laureate 2017-18, author of Grief Bone, Five Oaks Press: 2017 and A Theory of Lipstick, Main Street Rag Publications: 2013
Lovell and her poems scale rocks and hopes. Sometimes she’s dazzling as love’s proposals, “… the words hung in the air / like a little rainbow.” Other times she’s drawn to fall, “… not fathoms / but parsecs … the pull so profound / not even light wants out.” Reading these, you’ll agree, “… you were born / to die climbing— // not mountains, exactly. / They’re just metaphors.”
Michael Kriesel, 2015 North American Review Hearst Prize winner
Proposition at the Walk-In Infinity Chamber excites me as a poet, editor, and reader of speculative poetry. In particular, I’m a fan of the multi-layerings of meaning, trope and narrative displayed here. The poet’s relationships and severances are presented in science-fiction or fairy-tale contexts, which at the same time that they alienate us with inexpressible distances have the cozy reassurance of our childhood’s fantastic movie matinees. Lovell is in love with the universe, despite its sorrows: “They say it’s just an illusion, / but let’s take our chances.” Proposition is itself a reflective chamber of mirrors turned both inward and outward: “all outcomes reduced to stay or go.” These poems present life as a heroic quest.
F.J. Bergmann, editor of Star*Line, the journal of the Science Fiction Poetry
Association; and Mobius: The Journal of Social Change
