Cry.Sweat. Bleed. Write. - by Bell Kay (Paperback)

About the Book

"Kay Bell's piercing and poignant collection of poems begins in a place of displacement, as the poet endures her childhood uprooting from the Caribbean islands to a fragmented America. There she encounters a mother's harsh life, fatherlessness, a stressed girlhood, and elusive opportunity. She is "sponsored by aching," and experiences "what it means to be a grown woman afraid of the dark," and discovers "how difficult it is to anticipate the morning." Yet the poet's voice is resilient and determined, seeking intimate romantic connection while attempting to relearn "trust in man's uprooting flesh." Infused with a defined vision and a resilient faith that "bodies are engraved in purpose," even if "sometimes the body is not the body/but what's left of what didn't explode," Cry. Sweat. Bleed. Write. testifies to the power of poetic witness and the heard hope of the human word"--

Book Synopsis

Kay Bell's piercing and poignant collection of poems begins in a place of displacement, as the
poet endures her childhood uprooting from the Caribbean islands to a fragmented America.
There she encounters a mother's harsh life, fatherlessness, a stressed girlhood, and elusive
opportunity. She is "sponsored by aching," and experiences "what it means to be a grown
woman afraid of the dark," and discovers "how difficult it is to anticipate the morning." Yet the
poet's voice is resilient and determined, seeking intimate romantic connection, while attempting
to relearn "trust in man's uprooting flesh.".

Review Quotes

Kay Bell's piercing and poignant collection of poems begins in a place of displacement, as the poet endures her childhood uprooting from the Caribbean islands to a fragmented America. There she encounters a mother's harsh life, fatherlessness, a stressed girlhood, and elusive opportunity. She is "sponsored by aching," and experiences "what it means to be a grown woman afraid of the dark," and discovers "how difficult it is to anticipate the morning." Yet the poet's voice is resilient and determined, seeking intimate romantic connection, while attempting to relearn "trust in man's uprooting flesh." Infused with a determined vision and a resilient faith that "bodies are engraved in purpose" even if "sometimes the body is not the body/but what's left of what didn't explode," Cry. Sweat. Bleed. Write. testifies to the power of poetic witness and the heard hope of the human word.

-David Groff, author of Clay and Theory of Devolution.