Anatomy of a Wound

"Intensely personal, yet effortlessly accessible, every poem is a luminous and unflinching journey through challenging human landscapes." -Sky Island Journal Mark Waldron notes, "In 'unskinned' language, Lorrie Ness' poignant poems remind us our stories/histories are natural elements, root balls of raw nerves we can move and replant elsewhere, in new soil. Ness' visions in vein blue and pale green inhabit writer's groups, gas station bathrooms, autopsies and hospitals, yet faded flowers continue to bloom out of season. Family, here, is the cost of living and not living, but our memories like our DNA, Ness seems to say, are the armature of our presence. Ultimately, these poems of spade and scalpel are complex and beautiful eulogies to our hands." According to Jessica Federle, "The poems here don't flinch. A mother's death by suicide is part of what this collection examines, yet Ness retains a fearless, critical eye throughout. Ness leaves no thread unexamined, teasing out each one without ever cutting it away from its place in the whole. The suicide itself is denied the power to drive this exploration. The poet remains, with rare and intentional exceptions, in charge. This control is masterful. The language is riveting, unafraid of the grittier truths of biology. This collection is a powerful debut."