Braiding the Storm by Laura E. Davis

Highest recommendation! This is truly confessional poetry with a kick! With its tough, honest language, fierce vision, and unparalleled honesty, Braiding the Storm wonderfully mixes love and fear, optimistic and regret. Laura Davis‘ poetry is as private and personal as it is timeless and universal. This slender volume signals the emergence of a powerful new voice in American letters. She is indeed Woman: hear her roar.

Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]

Reading Davis’ poems is like shining a light on the dark, or whimsical, or forgotten corners of my own self. These are brave, unforgiving pieces that confront aging, sexuality, personal history, and family head on, yet still offer sensory and auditory delight that shows deep respect for the words themselves. The result, for me, is a new voice that makes me want more – to read more, to know more, to devour with insatiable appetite the strength each poem demands, as well as the surprising mind that penned them.

Perhaps the highest praise I can give this book is to say, simply, that after putting it down, I picked up my own pen and felt compelled – no forced – to write new poems, myself. The words came pouring out of me. Davis’ poems unlock something in their reader, all the while refusing to apologize for it.

Rating: ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]