Bruised Gospel, Paperback/Sarah Alcaide-Escue

Bruised Gospel 's raw devotional sonority multiplies like a spell through poems of great formal range and restraint. "Alcaide-Escue bridges the tender and the terrible, exploring and examining the sadnesses and slow glories that bind us together. Like Louise Gl ck's work, these delicate yet deliberate poems transform image into meaning, recording the moment of realization and leaving the reader more fully alive." (Emma Bolden)