Ariadne & Other Poems

Poetry. Women's Studies. "Simplicity and silence form the central axis of Swanberg's work in much the same manner as clarity of gesture and centered thought create the necessary dynamic tension in a Zen adept's meditations. Swanberg's poems are linguistic line drawings ... The restricted palette of the poems acts as a translucent potter's glaze or watercolorist's wash. Gold, white, blue, and unspecified dark are the coordinates of the poems' light ... Binding everything together is the voice of the eternal feminine, the yin yang of harmony and dissention, the essential expression of fertility and art created and expressed in the female voice and point of view. Consciousness is co-shared in Swanberg's world; the eternal feminine, viewed through classical mythological figures, allows us to move out of our limited and restrictive view of the natural world and into a more inclusive comprehension of the planet's life forms. The ghost pony's wonderful spirit is present for all those who allow imagination to open their spirits to the fundamental essence of the other creatures with whom we share the planet."—Andrea Moorhead, from the Introduction

"Ingrid Swanberg has served American Poesy with her inimitable Ghost Pony Press and her near single-handed resuscitation of the proto-Beat Midwest poet d.a. levy. In ARIADNE & OTHER POEMS, she has created a body of poetry that invites contemplation of Ariadnean mazes andlabyrinths, and through these, our own contemporary reparations."—Jim Cohn