MY BROTHER AND I by Sharon Dunn

Over the course of a lifetime, perhaps one of the most complex, mysterious, and—if the people involved are fortunate—sustaining emotional and psychological relationships within a family is that between siblings. In these twenty-six sometimes painful, always honest poems, Sharon Dunn explores this terrain and honors what she finds there. These are love poems in the most encompassing sense of the term.

–Andrea Hollander Budy, author of Woman in the Painting, The Other Life, and House Without a Dreamer

Here is a portrait of a family in the difficult years immediately following World War II. It includes a mother who with great determination has made herself into a psychiatrist and mental-hospital administrator. This portrait also brings us a father who after five years in the Army, two in combat, remained out of work, his life unfocused for another seven years. And then there are the children who come to these parents, the brother and sister who seem to want to fly apart as far as possible, only to realize time and again how deeply allied they are. Told with a clear, unsentimental eye, these poems bring a deep family dynamic
to life.

–Fred Marchant, author of The Looking House

In this compelling sequence of poems, rich in imagistic detail and emotional nuance, Sharon Dunn speaks both to and about her brother, using their relationship, from childhood to the present, as a medium for telling their parents’ stories as well. Though they were “such different children,” brother and sister share what Dunn calls “our deep relation” in a troubled family circle; ultimately, through shared work and hard-won insights, they share—and the poet shares with us—a great deal more.

–Martha Collins, author of Blue Front and White Papers

Rating:  ***** [5 of 5 Stars!]