For the Shrew

Glazova invites us to perceive the unfolding natural world with all our senses-a bee, a swamp, the icy north-and to consider our place in it. Her concise and sensory poems elucidate not just a moment in nature, but the flow of time. A snow-covered bud, a clod of earth, an animal's fur, and human beings are all part of a continuous cycle of life and death. Glazova is also a photographer, and light, shadow, and darkness filter through these poems. But listening is as important as seeing: "put your ear to the ground: the log and the bark beetle / sing as one-they begin." Glazova came of age during perestroika, moved to Germany as a young woman, and received her doctorate in the U.S. Her poetry is strongly influenced by Paul Celan, whose work she has translated to Russian.