Secure the Shadow
Author: Claudia Emerson
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN-10: 0807143030
ISBN-13: 978-0807143032
ASIN: B007FRK7V8
Reading about death is always difficult. Pulitzer Prize poet Claudia’s Emerson’s works made for a very interesting read as they captured the essence of living even within death, or the desire to remember living qualities of people after death. Nowhere is this as strongly summed up as in the title poem, “Secure the Shadow,” which refers to the practice of taking pictures – often of younger children who die too early – of those who have died in poses as if they still lived. Personally, it’s only a practice I heard of relatively recently and not until I started reviewing books this year did I find references that let me know it wasn’t a modern day one. As I stated, though all the poems are about death (such as an unexpected death of a brother, and a slow death of a father) they are not about dark imagery so much as haunting and touching images. The one thing to note is that if you’re looking for a variety of poetry styles, Claudia Emerson does not offer these up here – all the poems are of the same meter and stanza breaks throughout the book, but are grouped into five different thematic areas (such as the brother’s death being one, and the father’s being another). While death is a tough read, I definitely felt enlightened after completing reading this book, seeing the experience of survivors in the face of death in new and different ways.
A free copy of this book was furnished by the publisher for review via NetGalley, but providing a copy did not guarantee a review. This information is provided per the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission.
