The Lyrics

"Find a shell or a flute," Fanny Howe insists in one poem, "inhabit it with music." The Lyrics, the first book in a new trilogy, explores the poet's relationship between the world and the spirit, haplessness and happiness, the thing uttered and the utterly lost. Howe's spiritual struggle demands a paring down, a recognition of political and class warfare, and an offering up of oneself and one's talents. But to do so, one must discern the difference between good and evil, even when the two often look alike. The Lyrics is the new work by an essential poet, "driven by the lyric's / Quest for rest that never / (God willing) will be found."

Praise for On the Ground:

"Simultaneously tender, political, lyrical and global in scope, this set of short sequences from Howe has at its core the belief that love plays a redemptive role at all scales of interaction, giving intense force to grapplings with intimacy."—Publishers Weekly

"This is a book that teaches us to be ecstatic about poetry; in it we hear the frayed and difficult passages of our thought and place as humans, our restive worry and our longing for peaceful cohabitation with all others. On the Ground is an essential book for our times."—Judges Citation, Griffin International Poetry Prize finalist