Black Swan

Black Swan Synopsis

Imagine Leda black - begins Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon's exciting new collection of poems. Mixing vernacular language with classical mythology, modern struggles with Biblical trials, she gives voice to women past and present. In Van Clief-Stefanon's powerful poems, last night's angry words ""puffed / into the dark room like steam / punching through the thick surface / of cooking grits."" She remembers a child's innocence ""lost / in the house where I learned the red rug / against my chest, my knees / my tongue."" Black Swan is filled with pain, loss, hope, and the promise of salvation. from ""Roadside Stand"" The man on the side of the road sells watermelons. Split fruit sweats in the Florida heat. I will watch men's hands my whole life. With a dirty jagged nail he flicks away a black seed. - Split fruit sweats in the Florida heat. Sun like an orange cut, dripping, slick. With a dirty nail he flicks away a black seed. The day's too sticky for melons' damp sweet smell.