> Books: The Babies by Sabrina Orah Mark Saturnalia Books: The Babies by Sabrina Orah Mark

ISBN 0-9754990-1-7

The Babies
by Sabrina Orah Mark

Winner of the 2004 Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize Judged by Jane Miller

$14


“War, dark drafts, desertions, abandoned homes—these poems move darkly down, as the poem, The Babies, concludes, ‘into a past I still swear I never had.’ They offer a look at a time we must face, or else face its consequences. It happens that, in The Babies, we aren’t sure if we are looking at past, present, or future. Sabrina Orah Mark ultimately posits what is surely meant as praise for poetry: timelessness.”

—Jane Miller, judge

"Sabrina Orah Mark's debut collection is uncommonly taut, an achievement made all the more remarkable given that its poems are anything but spare...."

The Boston Review

"In place of poetic epiphany and absolute closure, Orah Mark infuses in The Babies the world's disorder—its chords are those of disruption, confusion, uncertainty. The vividness with which Orah Mark processes such chaos is exacting; however amplified, its pitch almost always feels authentic."

Diagram

 

DAY

The world is, in spite of everything, very over. I asked the carnie, and he said Marvin. And I said yes? And he said Marvin, it’s very over. I nodded in agreement, as I rearranged the wisteria. Also, the day was clear. A single silk stocking hung in the air. And the carnie, his hands in his pockets, said Marvin. And I said yes? And he looked at me tenderly and said the dish has run away from the spoon. And I said yes, it was bound to happen. That night, in his orange pickup truck, we made love for the last time, as it sunk into a muddy swamp. Somewhere else, a tree was burning.

 

Read the review from Constant Critic!

Read the review from The Diagram!

Read the review from galatea ressurects!

 

Sabrina Orah Mark’s poems appear in Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century (Sarabande Press) and Best American Poetry 2007. She has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Glenn Schaeffer Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Arts. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Agnes Scott College.

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Last Update: December 6, 2007