Cloud Moving Hands - (Pitt Poetry) by Cathy Song (Paperback)

About the Book

These poems, threaded by the teachings of Buddha, examine loss--the death of a loved one, the longing for a child, the yearning for another place and time--and the suffering such attempts transpire, but ultimately the poems are an affirmation that to be born into human life is our greatest opportunity to transform loss and sorrow into awakening joy.

Book Synopsis

These poems, threaded by the teachings of Buddha, examine loss--the death of a loved one, the longing for a child, the yearning for another place and time--and the suffering such attempts transpire, but ultimately the poems are an affirmation that to be born into human life is our greatest opportunity to transform loss and sorrow into awakening joy.

Review Quotes

Cathy Song's outstanding poems combine delicacy of expression with a closely observed life. Her work is lyrical and tough at the same time; a mirror of a world which contains ambiguity, contradiction, and the prismatic and unflinching regard of the poet.-- "Kathleen Spivack"

Cloud Moving Hands' is Song's best work. More of the heart and mind and soul are integrated than ever. More finely seen differentiations arise. Deeper chords are struck. She moves more and more into the unknown. This book is a gift to her readers.-- "Li-Young Lee"

Drawing on her Hawaiian heritage, Song landscapes her work with a natural and easy spirituality. . . . She addresses suffering and offers promise. She addresses regret and adores the faithful.-- "The Brooklyn Rail"

Reading Cathy Song is like bathing with every window wide open. Her poems are awakenings--recognitions of spirit in simple gestures, reminders of the uncommon music in our common tongue--such that even the elegiac and cautionary become inexplicably pleasing. In these beautiful poems, the body of our language is truly felt in a fresh light.-- "Mark Cox"

Song is an artist, but in her latest collection, the former Yale Younger Poet proves that she is an intellectual in her field. . . . These poems do not simply tell a story from the perspective of one but of many--of the helpless, rich, frivolous, and relentess.-- "Library Journal"

The poems in Song's fifth collection are full of gratitude for unlikely gifts.-- "The New York Times"

About the Author

Cathy Song is the author of four previous books of poetry: Picture Bride, winner of the Yale Younger Poets prize; Frameless Windows, Squares of Light; School Figures; and The Land of Bliss.