Introduction to Christina Pugh's Poetics
Apocalyptic writing has always grappled with the question of what language can reveal when the world seems on the verge of collapse, a theme that also drives poetry.
In her collection "The Right Hand", Christina Pugh transforms this ancient tension into an inquiry of both spirit and body, moving through the material world with an alert and visionary calm.
To yield is a power
Her poems inherit the intensity of "The Book of Revelation" yet apocalypse becomes an opening rather than an ending.
According to French philosopher Gaston Bachelard,
to read poetry is essentially to daydream, joining reality and imagination into one deep current, which runs through each poem in "The Right Hand", breathing the ache of revelation into ordinary matter.
Author's summary: Christina Pugh's poetry reveals power in yielding.