Some Say the Lark - Jennifer Chang

n nSome Say the Lark is a piercing meditation, rooted in loss and longing, and manifest in dazzling leaps of the imagination--the familiar world rendered strange. --Natasha Tretheweyn nChang's poems narrate grief and loss, and intertwines them with hope for a fresh start in the midst of new beginnings. With topics such as frustration with our social and natural world, these poems openly question the self and place and how private experiences like motherhood and sorrow necessitate a deeper engagement with public life and history.n nFrom The Winter's Wife: n nI want wild roots to prosper nan invention of blooms, each unknown nto every wise gardener.

If I could be na color. If I could be a question nof tender regard. I know crabgrass nand thistle.

• I know one algorithm: nit has nothing to do with repetition nor rhythm

It is the route from number nto number (less to more, more nto less), a map drawn by proof n not faith. Unlike twilight, I do not nconclude with darkness. I conclude.

nn nJennifer Chang is the author of The History of Anonymity, which was a finalist for the Glasgow/Shenandoah Prize for Emerging Writers and listed by Hyphen Magazine as a Top Five Book of Poetry for 2008. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry 2012, The Nation, Poetry, A Public Space, and elsewhere. She is an assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at George Washington University and lives in Washington, DC with her family.n n