But She Is Also Jane

"My favorite part about a Laura Read poem is the feeling I have just after reading one of her brilliant opening lines. Here’s an example: “Whether I should say You taught me algebra / to the woman I recognize in the YMCA bathroom / is a dilemma.” I’m so in on this poem from that first moment, even though I have no idea where it’ll take me. To say that But She is Also Jane deals with the experience of being a woman, or aging, or sexism undersells it so much that I hesitate to categorize it. Yes, that’s all in there. But the humor, intimacy and surprise contained on every page are what make each poem worth savoring."