Here is the first taste of Yvette Christiansë’s new collection of poems, Imprendehora, a work that we have been waiting for with great anticipation, ever since the author appeared in South Africa with her debut, Castaway – a book whose beauty and power left many lost for words.
Christiansë has since published a novel, Unconfessed, which was received with great critical acclaim. For all her success as a writer of prose, however, we at BOOK SA find it so very splendid to see that the pull of poetry remains, and that she continues to be led by it.
Three from Imprendehora:
* * * * * * * *
The Secret Lives of Maps
On occasion, the animals
curl into themselves, their skins,
and we – not knowing why –
put our faces to the wind
and sniff. We believe,
we carry ourselves
as believers and our progress
is high and our foreheads
are high, our voices tell us
we are good and the winds
give back to our hopes
the scent of rewards that rose
and stacked themselves
to the bases of clouds,
as if the clouds themselves were
the sails of our dreams
*
(more…)
