The Darkened Temple is a haunting, lyrical must-read

Mari L'Esperance's stunning debut poetry collection, The Darkened Temple, is one of my favorite poetry collections of 2008! Winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize, The Darkened Temple explores the haunting disappearance of a mother and the resonance of loss throughout history, folklore and the natural world.

With the balm of lyric, visceral imagery, L'Esperance makes palpable the hollowed and hallowed places she excavates. This book is so imbued with spirit that I can almost hear the echoes and taste the dust of the darkened temple as I read. I paradoxically find myself uplifted by the authority of L'Esperance's gorgeous language, the graciousness of her gaze--even as I mourn alongside the speaker the crossing that mother and daughter are not able to make.

The Darkened Temple encompasses both the vulnerability and resilience of the human spirit. I highly recommend that you experience it for yourself!