Saved by the Telling

Kimberly Fahner is the author of You Must Imagine the Cold Here.

Dedicated, initially, to “all the women who live here,” Saved by the
Telling begins with Women’s Rites. The first poem in this section,
“Real Life and Other Myths,” contemplates the significance of the
original Eve myth—of how Eve “got the shit kicked out of her with an
apple and never recovered.” This poem is later cleverly echoed by
“Apple Meditations: A Women’s Weekend.” A number of poems evoke
the harsh and chilling realities of mental and physical violence against
women. “A Simple Poem for Naomi Wolf” is aptly dedicated to the late
Bronwen Wallace, whose work with abused women played a significant role
in her own poetry.

In “Life in the Home Lane,” the focus shifts from death and dying
to birth and living. Everything is connected, and continuity ensured,
through the family bloodline. The poem “You Wondered How” contains
the observation that we work “backwards from death: / the point of
departure, the given.” “Prenatal Class,” “Naming,” “A New
Perspective,” and the particularly stunning “Brendan’s Song”
reflect the poet’s sense of continuity as embodied in the birth of her
son.

The final section, Who You Are Is What You See, speaks to the concepts
of perception and definition of self. “Creation Poems” tells, for
instance, of the human tendency to “re-invent what we already know, /
imagine unicorns / because we’ve seen horses and horns.” Further,
there is the juxtaposition of internalized thought and emotion with the
stark physicality of external landscapes. The poet soon reminds us,
though, that an “inner landscape is more fluent” than any external
one could ever hope to be.

Tihanyi’s poems are vibrant and evocative in their revelation of the
dynamic and very distinct patterns of women’s lives; they speak to all
women who live here and now.