Natural Order of Things: Poems
Natural Order of Things: Poems
Natural Order of Things: Poems
Description
Description
An extraordinary and unexpected book of finding happiness, by the award-winning author of The Renunciations
What does a life look like on the other side of survival, and can the one who survived come to recognize that she did? Donika Kelly's poetry is known for its resonant, unflinching confrontations with trauma and inheritance, translated through myth and nature. The Natural Order of Things expands these explorations into a new realm: one defined by joy and connection. It is an ode to companionship with people, animals, and our planet, and reveals the reparative power of intimacy. In poems inventive, playful, and formally nimble, Kelly pays homage to the voices and people she comes from, the songs of her lineage. Other poems follow the early stirrings of love to erotic transcendence with the lover and the self. Throughout, Kelly finds mirror and marvel in nature, art, and precious friendships. Though it once seemed impossible, she realizes a surprising place for herself, a rightness in the larger world. The Natural Order of Things is a brilliant and moving book, one that reaches toward equilibrium and something like happiness.
About the Author
About the Author
Donika Kelly is the author of Bestiary, winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and The Renunciations, winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
A New Yorker Best Book of the Year
"The Natural Order of Things has a simple premise: that we are put here to love. . . . Donika Kelly sings this love to us in languages--from her family's Southern vernacular to the ecstatic compression of the sonnet--that close the distance between grief and joy."--Evie Shockley"There's bravery and relief in leaving behind what no longer serves us--something I've been thinking a lot about in my own life--and Kelly's poems reclaim and reframe her history into a restorative and generative present."--Mandana Chaffa, The Brooklyn Rail
"Kelly's inquisitive, lyrical poems contemplate the phenomenon of connection: between lovers; between human, animal, earth, and cosmos; between past and present."--The New Yorker "Like the emerald cicada that adorns the cover, buried for years in the earth, Kelly's poems emerge with a deep desire to sing. And sing they do, of family, of trauma, of the hearsay of history, and of the weight of white supremacy and American empire. Through it all, these poems sing of love and all the awkward joy, contentment, and bewilderment it entails."--Kurt Milberger, The Headlight Review
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Graywolf Press
Pub date:
2025-10-07
Length:
72 pages
The Allstora Membership
Membership Perks:
- Save 30% on all online store purchases
- Exclusive access to author's content
- You pay less, but authors still earn double
Membership Terms:
First Month:
$0.00
Monthly price:
$5.00
- To access membership discount simply log in and add to cart, discount applied automatically.
- One month free trial, cancel anytime. Membership renews on the 15th of each month.