Monument: Poems New And Selected

"We have seen, over a very few years, the ways language and words can so bitterly divide us. The very fact that a poet laureate can exist at all seems an act of hope — is there one writer who could possibly represent this whole country? Natasha Trethewey was a two-term laureate, and her poetry seems to fit that description, precise in word choice but wide in subject and historical memory. Her new collection is called Monument, and that’s what it feels like in some ways – patriotic, brave, honest – with a power that feels like some stanzas could slash you to ribbons."