In the Shadow of Paradise

IN THE SHADOW OF PARADISE by Jane Ellen Glasser opens with an epigraph by Rumi, "The wound is the place where the light enters you," a theme resonant throughout her seventh collection. Subjects such as romantic love, aging, disappointment and death are examined through a lens of understanding that loss is both inevitable and necessary in growing a full life. In her poem "Cracks," she reminds us, "Every scar/ is the shorthand/ of an important story," each crack "...a door opening/ onto a larger room." A signature of her work, Glasser views nature as a mirror for human nature. Swallowtails hovering above phlox suggest that "...pleasure/ can only be tasted in small sips." Another source of inspiration is art. Works by Rousseau, Chagall, Picasso, Rubens are springboards for self-examination. With wisdom harvested by time, the overriding tone of her collection is one of praise, celebrating a life "happily flawed."