You Might Curse Before You Bless

Allie Marini Batts' artistic path has shot like a meteor in the last several years. She is the most published writer I know. She approaches her art with steadfast commitment; wild imagination; and a prodigious, literary mind steeped in classical literature and popular culture. The result is poetry that bristles with raw heart, startling imagery, and a nurturing and wild love for language.

Get ready for these poems, for, as this poet writes in "Hurricane Alicia":

...the great queen is coming, there is blood on her skirts

and

...you will freeze and drown here, Captain,

mark it.

Well reader, carefully mark these poems. They are filled with surprises in form and phrasing and in their recognition of messy humanity. They are honest and subtly noble. This is Allie Marini Batts at the start of her hurtling poetic career. She is one upon whom nothing is lost. She will continue to amaze us.