The Bad Secret takes readers on a dark yet sometimes comic sojourn through the undercurrents of a life suddenly unmoored by grief, and then to the subsequent rise of the spirit to recovery. Tough-minded and intellectual, Judith Harris's poems are also distinguished by brilliant images close to metaphysical. They reflect on childhood, nature, mental and physical illness, the loss of a mother, and the levity of being simply human. In a voice entirely her own, Harris confronts life's secrets with their hidden meanings inspired by guilt and redemption, offering a music of tenderness and hope.
I watch it gutter down, over the pine's edge, over the pink and orange sunset, diving into the abyss, with its wings perpendicular to the ravine.By now, I have broken offfrom the rest, pretending I'm an orphan -- my eyes fixed on the unseeable destruction
of my ghost in that suicidal machine. "Hush," I say, as if hatred was a sound, as if I could make the negative positive, but nature itself has given up on the picture of my happy family, and pretends not to look at the box with the rolled-up Kodak filmtumbling over the ledgegathering more weight and velocity.
-- "My Father Throws His Camera Down the Grand Canyon, 1968"
Or split into 4x interest-free payments of 25% on orders over R50
Learn more
The Bad Secret takes readers on a dark yet sometimes comic sojourn through the undercurrents of a life suddenly unmoored by grief, and then to the subsequent rise of the spirit to recovery. Tough-minded and intellectual, Judith Harris's poems are also distinguished by brilliant images close to metaphysical. They reflect on childhood, nature, mental and physical illness, the loss of a mother, and the levity of being simply human. In a voice entirely her own, Harris confronts life's secrets with their hidden meanings inspired by guilt and redemption, offering a music of tenderness and hope.
I watch it gutter down, over the pine's edge, over the pink and orange sunset, diving into the abyss, with its wings perpendicular to the ravine.By now, I have broken offfrom the rest, pretending I'm an orphan -- my eyes fixed on the unseeable destruction
of my ghost in that suicidal machine. "Hush," I say, as if hatred was a sound, as if I could make the negative positive, but nature itself has given up on the picture of my happy family, and pretends not to look at the box with the rolled-up Kodak filmtumbling over the ledgegathering more weight and velocity.
-- "My Father Throws His Camera Down the Grand Canyon, 1968"
Imprint | Louisiana State University Press |
Country of origin | United States |
Release date | April 2006 |
Availability | Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days |
First published | April 2006 |
Authors | Judith Harris |
Dimensions | 229 x 140 x 6mm (L x W x T) |
Format | Paperback |
Pages | 72 |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-8071-3139-8 |
Barcode | 9780807131398 |
Categories | |
LSN | 0-8071-3139-3 |