Nervous System: Poems - Paperback

by Rosalie Moffett (Author)

A moving and kinetic collection of science poetry from the 2018 winner of the National Poetry Series, selected by Monica Youn

Unexpected, unusual, and stirring, the poetry of Rosalie Moffett "takes us to the brink of a world continually unmaking itself," (Georgia Review). From diving-bell spiders to the nervous system of the human body, from trees growing so heavy with fruit that they split to dogs galloping through snowy hills, Moffett's world is rendered with precision, intricacy, and extraordinary beauty.

Exhilarating in its technical expertise but also steeped in a profound connection to the natural world and the complex terrain of a mother-daughter relationship, Nervous System is a collection from a major emerging voice.

What happens when the language of science must explain the mysteries of love and loss?

• Traumatic Brain Injury: A daughter confronts her mother's concussion and subsequent aphasia, exploring the delicate web of memory, language, and identity.
• The Natural World: From diving-bell spiders to fruit-heavy trees that split under their own weight, the wild landscape provides a stunning metaphor for the human body's resilience and fragility.
• Lyrical Poetry: Rendered with the sharp-eyed precision of a biologist, these poems find extraordinary beauty and stirring emotion in the face of clinical realities.
• Grief and Illness: An unflinching yet tender exploration of what it means to care for a loved one when the person you knew seems to be unmade before your eyes.