Chokecherry — Lyd Havens
In Chokecherry, Lyd Havens gathers their griefs: the sudden death of their uncle when they were a child, losing both of their grandparents in the span of a year, estrangement from a parent, and unrequited love, among others. What follows is a bouquet of visceral, unflinching poems that simultaneously lament and rejoice. Through memory and all its unreliability, the landscapes of their genealogy, and allusions to grief in history and art, Havens explores the toll mental illness and addiction have taken on their family, while still giving thanks for the love that has helped them not only survive, but live. Chokecherry is equal parts mourning and celebration, loss and growth, rage and tenderness.
In Chokecherry, Lyd Havens gathers their griefs: the sudden death of their uncle when they were a child, losing both of their grandparents in the span of a year, estrangement from a parent, and unrequited love, among others. What follows is a bouquet of visceral, unflinching poems that simultaneously lament and rejoice. Through memory and all its unreliability, the landscapes of their genealogy, and allusions to grief in history and art, Havens explores the toll mental illness and addiction have taken on their family, while still giving thanks for the love that has helped them not only survive, but live. Chokecherry is equal parts mourning and celebration, loss and growth, rage and tenderness.
In Chokecherry, Lyd Havens gathers their griefs: the sudden death of their uncle when they were a child, losing both of their grandparents in the span of a year, estrangement from a parent, and unrequited love, among others. What follows is a bouquet of visceral, unflinching poems that simultaneously lament and rejoice. Through memory and all its unreliability, the landscapes of their genealogy, and allusions to grief in history and art, Havens explores the toll mental illness and addiction have taken on their family, while still giving thanks for the love that has helped them not only survive, but live. Chokecherry is equal parts mourning and celebration, loss and growth, rage and tenderness.
Lyd Havens (she/they) is the author of Chokecherry (Game Over Books, 2021), as well as a co-author of I Wish I Wasn't Royalty: a Playable Chapbook (Game Over Books, 2020). Her work has previously been published in Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, New Delta Review, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal. They won the 2022 So to Speak Poetry Prize and the 2018 ellipsis... Poetry Prize, and will hold a residency through the Vermont Studio Center in 2023. Lyd currently lives in Boise, Idaho. She can be found online at her website (lydhavens.com) or on Instagram (@lydhavens).
