The Knowing Animals by Emily Skov-Nielsen
Skov-Nielsen writes vulnerable and edgy poems in this collection. Her voice has a way of stirring emotions while giving you a glimpse into the raw underbelly of life. From the poem “Epiphany”: “A turkey vulture carves a holding pattern overhead, / is called to land by a sweet-smelling carcass.”
Amazon USAThe Knowing Animals Paperback – September 1, 2020 by Emily Skov-Nielsen
- Publisher : Brick Books (September 1, 2020)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 101 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1771315334
- ISBN-13 : 978-1771315333
- Item Weight : 7.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.9 x 0.5 x 8.7 inches
Reviewed by LB Sedlacek
Skov-Nielsen writes vulnerable and edgy poems in this collection. Her voice has a way of stirring emotions while giving you a glimpse into the raw underbelly of life. From the poem “Epiphany”: “A turkey vulture carves a holding pattern overhead, / is called to land by a sweet-smelling carcass.” Her voice is fresh and imaginative. She is able to draw the reader in from poem to poem. From the poem “Mother Earth”: “Rewilding, nourishing, slow-eating her life.” It’s lines like these that will seep into your brain and make you want to read more.
Visitation
Roving through flowering megacities,
fields of sea lavender—carrying a zygote
nearly invisible inside me, while savouring
the soft pornography of this Disneynature
landscape, waiting for Meryl Streep’s voice
to come gliding in, luciferous as always,
draping sublimity, narrating every kill.
I haunt the deer who have come to feed
at the edge of the coastal wood. I fall in with
the flow of animals closing and opening mirrored
doors with a feeling that I’m being followed:
a complicated faith, utopian and disquieting.
About the Author
EMILY SKOV-NIELSEN is an MA graduate from UNB's English/Creative program. Her poems have been published (and longlisted in several contests) in journals across Canada including The Malahat Review, The Fiddlehead, The Puritan, CV2, Prairie Fire, and Prism International. She is the author of Volta (Anstruther Press, 2017). She currently works for The Fiddlehead, Atlantic Canada's International Literary Journal. In the past she worked for several years at a bookstore, was an Adult Education Instructor, and has dabbled in social work. She currently lives and writes in Fredericton, NB.