Trophic Cascade

Poet and editor Dungy (Smith Blue) eschews romanticism for clear-eyed reflection on the nature of survival. In her work, what it means to truly be alive seeps into even the simplest of actions, such as contemplating the peculiarities of Mother Nature or the responsibilities of newfound motherhood. In these poems the past often feels like a ghost that is never too far away, no matter how hard one attempts to bend to the will of the present. In “Conspiracy,” Dungy writes, “Last week, a woman smiled at my daughter and I wondered/ if she might have been the sort of girl my mother says spat on my aunt/ when they were children in Virginia all those acts and laws ago.” For the poet, motherhood evokes a heightened sense of protective anxiety, coupled with fear of predators and outside threats. It becomes as much about survival as it is about nurturing. On the other hand, Dungy’s collection acknowledges that where there is life, death isn’t too far behind. In “One to Watch, and One to Pray,” a baby is passed back and forth over the deathbed of a loved one, symbolizing the circle of life. Dungy’s poems depict a universe of clockwork precision whose logic can be too complex for mortal minds. (Mar.)