Pretty sweet things

Sometimes there's a song, a movie, a book, or a poem that's so darn powerful and life-affirming it can live in your gut for weeks. It can take on a life of its own, until even the dancing tree branches outside your window are singing its song. The last episode of Six Feet Under did that. (Darn you, Nate!) The mournful and lovely poetry of Jack Gilbert did that. And now we can add the poetry of local writer and clothing designer Eireann Lorsung to that exclusive list.

A graduate from the MFA program at the U of M, Lorsung recently released Music for Landing Planes By (Milkweed Editions), a book of poetry inspired by the tapestries and mannequins that decorate her room, and the rich tapestries of life, death, love, and confusion that fill her mind--images she stitches together in magic metaphors and delightful details. Lorsung uses line breaks, parentheticals, brackets, spaces, and enjambments like color palettes, turning each poem into an aural painting.

"Doing," a poem about her mother's battle with cancer, is so honest and raw and confessional the reader almost feels intrusive. And "And Will Be" is a positive little affirmation, a thank you note to all that makes the heart thump: "If they can, I hope/every person in the world will say yes/which is the trumpet flower blooming over a wall."

Lorsung also makes pretty things for her online clothing shop, ohbara.com. Today she has wallets she weaved from vintage fabrics and the sweet stories that came with them.


Music for Landing Planes By: http://www.milkweed.org
Bara Shop: http://www.ohbara.com/