Dirt

In these moving poems, Jo McDougall writes of loss— the loss of her daughter to cancer, as well as the loss of her own childhood in the rural South. The ghost of the past haunts these poems, and so as McDougall moves from pain to joy and finally to a hard-earned serenity, the reader rejoices in her triumph of the spirit. "The word 'economy' appropriately describes McDougall's style, for economy derives from the ancient Greek for householder. And not only is the poet careful not to overspend words; she also draws her subjects from the most ordinary events and occasions.Her poems repay reading, rereading, and rereading" Patricia Monaghan, Booklist.