Full Description
Here is the good stuff: poetry written by women that actually excites the thinking reader. This anthology, spanning work of the last 75 years, will broaden its readers' notions of what defines erotic poetry. For what is more intriguing, more satisfying than strong, self-assured writing?
This groundbreaking anthology includes some of our most powerful women writers—among them Sharon Olds, Elizabeth Alexander, Anne Sexton, Dorianne Laux, Denise Levertov, Adrienne Rich, Lucille Clifton, and Louise Glück. These poets fully demonstrate that, far from being prurient, the erotic can permeate even the most mundane aspects of life, from reading a book to buying clothes.
At the same time, the collection affirms the enormous meaningfulness of poetry—its ability to express the inexpressible and to illuminate the most private and intimate of human experiences. The poets included here represent different ethnicities, geographies, social classes, and sexual preferences. The only characteristic they share is that they are women writing about sex.
Contents
ALL WE KNOW OF PLEASURE:
Poetic Erotica by Women
Edited and with an Introduction by Enid Shomer
I. THE DISCOVERY OF SEX
Woman Reading, KATHLEEN FLENNIKEN
In Ecstasy, ERIN BELIEU
She Lays, MOLLY PEACOCK
Practicing, MARIE HOWE
Corinna, Deplaning In Pittsburgh, Looks For Tessera, Her Friend from Summer Camp, STEPHANIE BURT
At Seventeen, ELIZABETH ALEXANDER
First Sex, SHARON OLDS
Stairway to Heaven, JILL BIALOSKY
The Sisters of Sexual Treasure, SHARON OLDS
Bar Napkin Sonnet #11, MOIRA EGAN
Have You Ever Faked an Orgasm?, MOLLY PEACOCK
Fast Gas, DORIANNE LAUX
My Diamond Stud, ALICE FULTON
The 4-Barrel Carburetor On a '72 Chevy Camaro, LORNA DEE CERVANTES
"What Do Women Want?", KIM ADDONIZIO
Navy, BARBARA O'DAIR
Preference, BETH GYLYS
Your Shower, NIKKI GIOVANNI
Your Hands, ANGELINA WELD GRIMKÉ
Fishing Seahorse Reef, ENID SHOMER
When Man Enters Woman, ANNE SEXTON
China, DORIANNE LAUX
The Source, SHARON OLDS
The French Bed, IDRIS ANDERSON
Breasts, MAXINE CHERNOFF
Wet, MARGE PIERCY
Dream Lover,AMY EDGINGTON
Lullaby, MOLLY PEACOCK
Orion's Belt, BRENDA HILLMAN
Attraction, ENID SHOMER
Space Race, COLETTE LABOUFF ATKINSON
The Shyness, SHARON OLDS
Desire, DEIDRE POPE
Skylight, JAYNE RELAFORD BROWN
Black Slip, TERRY WOLVERTON
First Poem for You, KIM ADDONIZIO
The Lovers, DORIANNE LAUX
Directions, KATHERINE RIEGEL
The Discovery of Sex, DEBRA SPENCER
Desire, JANE HIRSHFIELD
II. THE ORDINARY DAY BEGINS
Kissing Again, DORIANNE LAUX
The Ordinary Day Begins, JUNE SYLVESTER SARACENO
The Knowing, SHARON OLDS
The Purr, MOLLY PEACOCK
In the Kitchen, STACIE CASSARINO
Trying, ADA LIMÓN
Christ You Delight Me, SANDRA CISNEROS
The Hummingbird: A Seduction, PATTIANN ROGERS
Seamless Beauty, WENDY LEE
Downward, ERICA JONG
Everything Depends Upon, JANE ANN DEVOL FULLER
Eros at Temple Stream, DENISE LEVERTOV
The Best Seven Minutes of My Life, LORNA DEE CERVANTES
Afternoon, NINA RUBINSTEIN ALONSO
Curtains of Goldenrod, DIANE ACKERMAN
Capitulation, BARBARA GOLDBERG
Buttons, CHERYL CLARKE
green boy, KAI CHENG THOM
Housebound, AMY GERSTLER
More or Less Love Poems #7, DIANE DI PRIMA
I Love It When, SHARON OLDS
Floating Islands, ENID SHOMER
Hold Back, ROBIN BECKER
I Live My Life by Three Minute Phone Calls, LAURA BOSS
In Celebration, ELLEN BASS
Something Like Rivers Ran, SANDRA CISNEROS
On a night of the full moon, AUDRE LORDE
This Corner of the Western World, JENNIFER CHANG
Amazon Twins, OLGA BROUMAS
The Sad Truth, ELLEN BASS
2 AM, DORIANNE LAUX
(The Floating Poem, Unnumbered), ADRIENNE RICH
Blindfolds, Ropes, SHERYL ST. GERMAIN
I Have No Use for Virgins, JANE HIRSHFIELD
III. WHEN THIS OLD BODY
Gate C22, ELLEN BASS
What Humans Do, WENDY VIDELOCK
Kisses, KIM ADDONIZIO
Your Fingers Are Still, CHRYSTOS
Wet, CAROLYN CREEDON
Love Poem, AUDRE LORDE
Phenomenal Woman, MAYA ANGELOU
homage to my hips, LUCILLE CLIFTON
Freed Up, WENDY BARKER
To Endings, KATHERINE RIEGEL
Marriage Without Sex, ELLEN BASS
Four Beginnings / for Kyra, OLGA BROUMAS
the wounded for healing, KAI CHENG THOM
The animal kingdom, MARGE PIERCY
Drowning in Paradise, ADA LIMÓN
Dulzura, SANDRA CISNEROS
Ecstasy, SHARON OLDS
After Love, MAXINE KUMIN
Afterwards, DORIANNE LAUX
Watching You in the Mirror, ALICE FRIMAN
Of Gravity & Angels, JANE HIRSHFIELD
Integrity, LORNA DEE CERVANTES
Searching for the Comet, DIANE ACKERMAN
Us, ANNE SEXTON
Summer Solstice, STACIE CASSARINO
Song of the Current at Cape Horn, DIANE ACKERMAN
We Thought of Each Other as Food, ROBIN BECKER
mary, LUCILLE CLIFTON
The Encounter, LOUISE GLÜCK
Foreshadows, BARBARA GOLDBERG
The Return, MOLLY PEACOCK
The Long Tunnel of Wanting You, ERICA JONG
Making Love to You When You're Far Away, ALISON HAWTHORNE DEMING
Feasting, ELIZABETH W. GARBER
God/Love Poem, LENORE KANDEL
Doomsday, MAURYA SIMON
Notes on Desire, EVE ALEXANDRA
autopsky, KAI CHENG THOM
Untitled (When this old body), GRACE PALEY
January Vineyards, RUTH L. SCHWARTZ
There's Nothing More, WENDY VIDELOCK
