Review of a Filament Burns in Blue Degrees by Catherine M. Darby in The Coachella Review

Review of a Filament Burns in Blue Degrees by Catherine M. Darby in The Coachella Review

BY: CATHERINE M. DARBY

A Filament Burns in Blue Degrees by Kendra Tanacea is a haunting first collection of poems released this year by Lost Horse Press. Tanacea is a master of the moment—not straight-on moments, but rather, ones full of visuals and emotions that transport the reader into Tanacea’s world. In this world, the reader becomes a lover, beloved, betrayed, friend, child, and want-to-be-mother, all while ruminating about life and the fullness it can offer.

Interview in the Wellesley Magazine by Paula Butturini ’73 

Interview in the Wellesley Magazine by Paula Butturini ’73 

Kendra Tanacea ’88
A Filament Burns in Blue Degrees
Lost Horse Press
78 pages, $18

Kendra Tanacea ’88, a poet and full-time practicing trial lawyer, has a forceful new book out. An English major at Wellesley, Tanacea also has an M.F.A. in writing and literature, and an infectious, throaty laugh. After Garrison Keillor recently featured two of her poems on his Writer’s Almanac show, she laughingly said, “I should be a playwright—it was such a thrill to hear it.”

Why do you write?

I read constantly. Sometimes I want to argue back at an essay or article, but with a poem. Other times, stories move me and I want to add my feelings to the mix, so I will use that story as a springboard and see where my writing takes me. Writing is inward and exploratory. It has no limits. You can imagine and think whatever you want to. That’s why I love it. It allows me to romp around in my own mind and discover.

Poetry, with its imaginative leaps and images, permits readers to add their own imaginings and associations to the poem, so the meaning of a poem becomes a unique collaboration between the writer and each reader.

What’s your writing practice?

I get up early when it’s dark and quiet, and write when I’m still groggy and in the beautiful place between sleeping and waking. My initial outpourings are handwritten in a notebook. I only use the computer when I’m crafting the poem.

I also enjoy writing with a group of local writers, Laguna Writers, inspired by prompts and other participants. As these workshops are at the end of the day, my writing collects images from my surroundings, grafted to the particular concerns of that day.

Why does poetry matter?

A great example is Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones,” which recently went viral. The poem’s speaker struggles to keep the horrors of this world from her children and ultimately speaks of hope. Assuming the role of a real estate agent, Smith ends with:

I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.

It’s a smart, simple, painful/hopeful poem that acknowledges all the wrongs and injustices, and quietly implores the reader to “renovate” this world, to revive its beauty.

By Paula Butturini ’73 | Butturini, a writer based in Connecticut, is the author of Keeping the Feast: One Couple’s Story of Love, Food, and Healing.

"Is This Joy?" in the Summerset Review

"Is This Joy?" in the Summerset Review

there's excitement inside me
a tuned-up car, detailed
hugging each curve to Hana
cocktails in cup holders
waterfalls & a peacock
what a beauty
a strong & pungent off-gassing
a bus ride with a kind driver
even the strange dog didn't bite me
lucky day going forward regularly
this glowing bus is gorgeous
no reports of break-ins
no litter at my feet
I must have kissed you
a hundred times tonight
a bird at the feeder
I couldn't help a little soft-shoe
isn't the spaghetti delicious
even the rain opened pink succulents
the road winds so nicely around the hillside
skin alive & receptive
wind & touch & 
spontaneous goosebumps
this feeling in your core
a murmuration of starlings
you're a great blue heron
on unseen currents
oh to be bird & kite & panther
it's not the heart but a sensation
sun-core radiating warmth
spill of warm tea on your lap
it's not love for another
but for self and other
bright auras overlapping
in imagination or confusion
a steel rod still glowing from fire
hot glass ballooning at the end of the straw
excitement & calmness of soul
lava glowing & inching forward
around stone & tree & me
sighing when it meets the sea

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KING'S BOOKS READING IN TACOMA, May 25, 2017

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So delighted to read with Jeannine Hall Gailey!

So delighted to read with Jeannine Hall Gailey!

Field Guide to the End of the World by Jeannine Hall Gailey and A Filament Burns in Blue Degrees by Kendra Tanacea

Field Guide to the End of the World by Jeannine Hall Gailey and A Filament Burns in Blue Degrees by Kendra Tanacea