Forever Mistaken for Ourselves

A collection of poems envisioned as a magic wardrobe of mirrors, vast with ocean and meadow, revealing reflections of the muses, a deer woman, and a sea-monster lover. Forever Mistaken for Ourselves tells a story of transformations. Iron dresses, veils nailed to an hourglass, and a sex-changing flower/human defy or define a woman and her place in daily life and history. Queen Anne's black lace leaves holes open for a ghost. Never just coy, these characters and artifacts get up and do battle with complacency, in an all too often misogynistic world. Beasts come and go through the mirrors, a fish-man breaking through to deliver a whole-body kiss to a woman. Forests rise, and lawns “lean lethargies” to hold the reflected images of the speakers. Is there a confirmation of existence? “If she is—a silver say-so.”