All Diaspora's Children

Conceived in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, “All Diaspora’s Children” was born into a nation that remains “a house divided…” DeMay felt compelled to seek out and celebrate what still holds us together, and come to grips with what continues to tear us apart. In the years that have followed, her quest has become more urgent. Johanna DeMay’s poems tell stories, speak about the struggles of plain people, yet her language is never plain. Her love of language—its nuances, its music, its power to evoke every human emotion from grief to rapture—shines on every page. Her poems paint pictures in her readers’ minds, to make them to feel connected, recognized, sometimes shaken. “All Diaspora’s Children” brings you the landscapes, people, creatures and plants that give the poet’s beloved place its color, texture, taste, sound. You will meet her neighbors: First Americans, stewards of this fragile land for millennia; Hispanic-Americans, descendants of hard-bitten Conquistadors—many of them Sephardic Jews on the run from the Inquisition—who put down roots here over four centuries ago; Anglo-Americans who have followed in waves; recent immigrants and asylum seekers hoping for a safe haven. All are woven into the fabric of DeMay’s chosen place. The high desert taught her to love light, burning blue skies and vast distances. Place shapes her life; place speaks through everything she writes. Johanna DeMay’s poems explore a multitude of diasporas—burning shtetls, Honduran villages, ancient farmers, priests and potters in Chaco Canyon, immigrants greeting Lady Liberty’s torch, New York’s “constellation of tethered stars.” DeMay conveys our common histories, traumas, dislocations and dreams with tenderness and visual lushness — wondering if her Russian-born father dreamt “in bright colors,” if her son’s remission is “a dormant volcano,” if her pupil will pass a naturalization exam as daunting as the “boulders, whirlpools and thundering chutes” of Class V rapids. DeMay’s own identity “sings in two languages,” both necessary: “different keys to crack life’s secret code.” We are all reflected in this collection which gives us a chance to “dig into [our] buried past” and learn the names of strangers who might well become our friends. —Mary K O’Melveny,author of Flight Patternsand other collections In All Diaspora’s Children, Johanna DeMay crafts stunning poems of belonging, identity, and change. We follow the poet’s journey, from her father’s shtetl, to her childhood in Mexico, to the streets where George Floyd was murdered. “Memory is a Telescope,” says Johanna DeMay, and we peer inside towards revelation. A potter for 40 years, DeMay shapes words to make us turn towards home and history. Here is a poet brave enough to tackle the haunting of history and to share what it means to be “othered.” DeMay’s poems give us courage to act and witness. She shows us how to integrate our histories so we may transform the future. The poet works with immigrants in New Mexico, and their voices and stories inhabit this poignant collection which will stay with you long after you turn the last page. —Deborah Leipziger, author of Story & Bone In All Diaspora’s Children,Johanna DeMay has given us thoughtful, compassionate poems that issue from her various cultures in her adopted homes. She combines keen observation with a sense of the plight of immigrants, remembering the history of her own family fleeing the Pale of Settlement and the pogroms. She writes with love and a lack of sentimentality about long marriage, old age, her children, and nature around her. Her sense of local history and place informs these intelligent and moving poems. —Marge Piercy, activist and author of 17 novels and 20 poetry volumes
ASIN: 1639807195
VSKU: BVV.1639807195.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:DeMay, Johanna
Binding: Paperback
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.