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Free
Verse Catch and Release
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 "Catch and Release" by Karla Huston Now as the ice begins its
slow fishermen will drop anchor
and like spiders the two who disappeared one
November their families might be
finally released of their grief, ache will lure them, and
they will know And the boys--they are tired
of floating of sturgeon gnawing their
skin, tired of their at prayers. They'll be glad
to be found-- after all those months of
freefall, 
There are certain poets whose work I keep beside my bed&emdash;for inspiration, solace, and instruction in how to live. Karla Huston is one of these. No one else I know writes as well or as thrillingly about what it means to be alive in a woman's body (specifically a middle-aged woman's body), or what it feels like to remember in that woman's body. In Catch and Release, this stunning new collection, Huston takes her earlier investigations of memory, desire, and the sweet, daily details of life even further in praise-songs of yearning and discovery. Daring, self-aware, and wise, these poems speak with great authority and are unafraid to "praise great and dangerous things." Huston is a poet who "unzip[s] down to the skin," revealing the "riches hidden in some dark, sparkling place." Lucid, unsentimental, sensual, and breathtakingly lyrical, these poems cast sparks that set the page afire, illuminating past and present, innocence and experience, the life of the body and the life of the imagination with unparalleled candor and insight. It's quite simply one of the best books I've read during the past year. -Alison Townsend Karla Huston's Catch and Release is a meeting ground where observation of the natural world meets the psychological nuance of humanity. These poems are deep, reflective, moving&emdash;without sacrifice to keen wit. They serve the intrinsic value of each of us as readers. Here is a poetic journey which wisely travels the road from unknowing to knowing. Expect the best. -Robert Nazarene | |||||