What's in the Blood

"In Cheryl Denise's second collection, readers will recognize some delights from her previous book, I Saw God Dancing: plain-spoken narratives set in rural landscapes, charged with her own abandon and exuberance. But here we also find frank meditations on violence and life's many labors. Her lines have grown tighter, her voice deeper. These are are poems with meat on their bones." --Julia Spicher Kasdorf, author Poetry in America

"Cheryl Denise's poems shine with the elemental power of blood, new-turned earth, sex, and baptism. They wrestle with body and spirit, tradition and desire, violence and work. The poet does not look away. In "Mother from Paradise," Eve tells her version of the Fall and its aftermath, ending with this command: 'Stop listening to God's stubble-faced cronies/. . . who thrust that apple between our lips/to shut us up.// Spit or swallow/ but speak, dear daughter, speak.' Read What's in the Blood and rejoice. Cheryl Denise is true to her words." --George Ella Lyon, Author, She Let Herself Go

"In always-approachable cameraderie, Cheryl Denise's lines bleed juice and blood. She lets us look with demure erotic humor at what is or once was next to our skin, from church to barnyard. When you quote pungent snatches to friends you know aren't quickly offended, they'll enjoy with you the sharp sounds of skates, or an auctioneer's voice like river water over stones. They'll readily share the key frisson: We may affectionately tweak, but not escape, what's in the blood." --John L. Ruth, Author, The Earth Is the Lord's: A Narrative History of Lancaster Mennonite Conference