A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter

Plainspoken, moving, and direct, the multi-award-winning poet Giovanni draws a revealing line between heart and history in this 27th collection (after Chasing Utopia). In prose and poetry, she presents the family and friends she cherishes and the places where she was once young, now that she is old. She bares the marks they have all left on her—for good or ill—tracing their stories with a steady hand. For example, in "Baby West, " she says, "I spent the summer/ with Grandmother/ And Grandpapa/ Not realizing a man/ On a Latin school teacher's pension/ And a woman who occasionally cooked/ For white folk/ Could hardly afford/ Another mouth to feed/ More hot water for baths/ Electricity for the Radio WGN until it signed/ Off at midnight." And: "I am in the hospital/ Room/ With yellow tulips/ From Nancy and Diana/ And a beautiful bouquet/ From the English Department/ I am trying to learn/ How to cry/ It's not that my life/ Has been a lie"