A review by heartpages
Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds

4.0

One feature all my favorite poets share is the ability to blend the mundane with the mystical. This book as a whole - portraying her journey through dissolution of a marriage - blended both expertly, with breathtaking imagery and visible pain/strength/brokenness/rebuilding. The theme of singing vs quiet really touched me. The traps on the china plates skewered my heart. What struck me the hardest, though, was Olds' repeated mention in the first section of comforting her soon-to-be ex. He'd taken her by surprise, left her, closed while she opened - and throughout the beginning she works to make it easier for him. Its irony resonates with anyone who has loved.