Lion's Paw

In her sixth collection, Lion's Paw, Guggenheim fellow and Four Quartets Prize finalist Kathleen Peirce extends her reach toward the realms of birth and afterlife and finds them liminal places. These are otherworldly poems immersed in earthly intricacies altered by the poet’s intimate gaze, about encounters in the presence of folded velvet, Eden, ice, a sheep’s locks, a wall of glass, each enlarged by loss and faithfulness. To show what it means to create while being created, these poems "pull the curtain back, or down." Eternity is here, as is the momentary. Though loyal to solitude, Peirce is in conversation with lovers, childhood, travelers, music, and language itself. "Are you with me?" she asks.