Blade by Blade - by Danusha Laméris (Paperback)

About the Book

"A collection of poems by Danusha Lamâeris"--

Book Synopsis

Blade by Blade is an unflinching field journal of grief, loss, and discovery set against the California wilderness.

Danusha Laméris's third book, Blade by Blade, is a book of hungers: Hunger for the bright glare of poppies, for the hidden name of the beloved, for the cracked continental edge, for all we keep in "the heart's farthest chambers." Seeking a way back to joy following the deaths of her son and brother, the poet finds wonder in the furred legs of a caterpillar, in egrets, elephants, and elk, solace in the seagull's speckled egg. Here we taste a longing to kiss in the dark corner of the gym, to leap into a volcano's molten fire, to be unraveled, undone thread by thread, made one with all things. Microscopic and tidal, earthquake and fire-prone, Blade by Blade thrives in the underbrush of human emotion. These poems are luminous missives tossed on the wind asking us to re-enter the world we've forsaken, to set foot, as if for the first time, on the green earth and begin again.

Review Quotes

Praise for Blade by Blade

"Blade by Blade by Danusha Laméris refuses grief as isolated by either time or place, with grace and thunder. The losses of both a brother and a son, two men remembered well, lead to winding and repeated meetings of earth and self. With the observation of Richard Powers and the casual brilliance of Gwendolyn Brooks, the book angles toward each and every subject and environment equally. The calmness with which the speaker catalogs what is gone due to environmental catastrophe and suicide provides a wide lens--not with distance, but specificity. The admirable volume brings on a new
style for Lameris, making her poems utterly recognizable."--Poetry Northwest

"Danusha Laméris' third collection is a book of marvel, microscopic observation, and untamed want. Out of a 'hungry mouth, ' Blade by Blade moves through the earth with joyful precision. Following the deaths of her brother and son, Laméris searches for pleasure and connection. . . . The earth and all its lush, terrifying landscapes provide the speaker sensual delight and new beginnings."--Turi Sioson, Only Poems

"This elegiac outing from Laméris is a testament to indelible love, offering a maelstrom of memory that briefly resurrects those she mourns. . . . With this magnanimity of spirit, her poems demonstrate a foundation of awe, curiosity, and reverence. . . . Wielding a gift for imagery and threaded with philosophical acuity, Laméris's voice is incomparable."--Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

"There's bittersweet longing in many of these poems, with the natural world linked with the emotional. . . . Readers looking for accessible, but meaningfu poetry will enjoy this."--Aiden Hunt, NewPages

"(R)egret, elegy, starsight."--Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine

Praise for Danusha Laméris

"Danusha Laméris writes with definitive, savoring power in perfectly well-weighted lines and scenes."--Naomi Shihab Nye

"Danusha Laméris' ravishing second collection of poems, lives up to its title and then some. In melodic and sumptuous lines, she considers desire, sorrow, beauty and death."--Ellen Bass

"Reckoning with and grieving for the past as they claim the future, these poems are wise, direct, and fearless."--Dorianne Laux

"Laméris explores a woman's experience, shaping its timeless (and often neglected) mysteries into song."--Poetry Flash

"These poems are sensuous and lyrical; the poet is passionately present in the fleeting moment 'listening carefully with the body's rapt attention.'"--The San Bernardino Sun

About the Author

Danusha Laméris, a poet and essayist, was raised in Northern California, born to a Dutch father and Barbadian mother. Her first book, The Moons of August (2014), was chosen by Naomi Shihab Nye as the winner of the Autumn House Press Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Book Award. Some of her work has been published in The Best American Poetry, The New York Times, Orion, and The American Poetry Review. Her second book, Bonfire Opera (University of Pittsburgh Press), was a finalist for the 2021 Paterson Poetry Award and recipient of the Northern California Book Award in Poetry. She is currently on the faculty of Pacific University's low residency MFA program. She co-founded The Hive Poetry Collective, a radio show, podcast, and event hub in Santa Cruz, California, where she was the 2018-2020 Poet Laureate, and co-leads the HearthFire Writing Community and Poetry of Resilience.