"Walking Naked Under a Yellow Rain Slicker" by Blank, Deanie R. 2022 paperback

SIGNED dedication by author on title page. Otherwise, book is like-new ################################## The power and courage in the poetry of Deanie Rowan Blank's first full collection of poetry come as no surprise to this reader. The first section, The Pulse of Grief deals with love, illness, loss, and ultimately death without a trace of sentimentality. Mostly written in a narrative style that exactly suits the story of a doomed marriage, the temptation to depression is wisely put aside and we are told, when relentless disease quashed his spirit/and there was no possible means of repair/he chose the kindest release and took it/freed himself from pain, endless despair. Music, travel, and painters become companions to this poet's life with her beloved Frost, Dickinson, and Bishop. Ireland and Sligo's secrets remind us of Blank's Irish father, her gratitude to W.B. Yeats, and the Yeats International Summer School.