You Haven't Asked About My Wedding or What I Wore

November 15, 2014

Poet/author Harris (Horses Never Lie About Love), who's been researching North American pioneer women for three decades, here expands on the main moment in a pioneer woman's life: her marriage. Thematic collections can feel canned, but this one really works; Harris doesn't dwell at the altar but deftly portrays whole lives. In one of the best poems, a young woman repeatedly thrashed by her guardian, "Brother Churchianity," escapes in marriage, finally observing "Today, I've outlived three husbands. No man/ ever worked me as hard as that clergyman."

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