Compulsions of Silk Worms and Bees: Poems

This new collection of poetry from veteran author, Julianna Baggott, is written as a manual on writing poetry. On the surface, it appears only to be a collection of poems about poetry. On a deeper level though, it turns craft on its ear to examine the larger, looming world. There are several different types of poems included. Some poems are written as question and answer dialogues. Some poems personify poetry itself as a character and address it as an unruly muse. Others are more pointedly instructive and presented as example poems. Still others are written to famous poets ranging from Theodore Roethke to Dean Young and can be either argumentative or adoring.