Harvesting Darkness: New Poems 2019-2023
She sleeps naked, wearing pearls, to play her part.
Robin Morgan’s latest collection is a tour de force: poetry that thrills the intellect and stirs the emotions. Robin shares her joys and intimacies which take centre stage and laments ‘the ringmaster’s desertion’ as death hovers in the wings and aging unfolds, while laughing at the pain / through the gridlocked traffic in my brain.
Light and shadow, sleep and wakefulness, holding tight and letting go, regret and contentment, order and chaos, battle it out simultaneously through the interplanetary and domestic worlds.
So trust disorder’s order,
be glad all permanence
is temporary, since
no matter what you lose
you gain: chaos composts
grief and love together.
19 SEPTEMBER 2023 | ISBN 9781925950830 | Paperback | 148mm x 210 mm | 64 pages
Save 25% when you order Dark Matter and Harvesting Darkness. Click here to order.
Read Robyn Rowland’s launch speech on Rochford Street Review here.
Endorsements
An accomplished and original poet, Morgan commands a wealth of technical resources, evident in the formal poems, and spilling over into her free verse. Each of her lines has an integrity of its own, indistinguishable from the material embedded in it. My guess is that Morgan will be regarded as one of our first ranking poets.
—Jay Parini, Poetry.
Morgan proves that exquisite poetry can sometimes be the most surprising gift of grief. A volume as proud, fierce, vulnerable, and brave as the poet herself.
—Alice Walker
Love is impossible. This truth has never been more touchingly exemplified than in Robin Morgan's poems. They hit square center.
—Ned Rorem
Beautifully written, passionate, rich in splendid imagination.
—Grace Paley
Sassy, sexy, and cerebral.
—The American Academy of Poets News
Strikingly memorable poems. In pace, diction, idiom, Morgan slices emotion raw.
—The Women's Review of Books
The development of Morgan's artistry is everywhere evident. Lyricism and fresh technical discoveries proclaim new accomplishment, with a passion for daily use.
—Publishers' Weekly
Intense and at times magnificent.
—The New York Times
Indispensable.
—The Guardian
Reviews
AMAZON READER REVIEWS 5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Moving and Compelling
First, the disclaimer. Robin Morgan is a lifelong hero of mine. She changed the world for women's rights and has never backed down from fighting the good fight. But, specifically, this is an incredible book of poems. I am not generally a poetry lover but I can't stop reading (and rereading) these beautifully crafted and brilliant meditations on aging, loss, motherhood, and art.
AMAZON READER REVIEWS 5.0 out of 5 stars Her best work yet.
It's rare that artists get better consistently throughout their careers, but Morgan has. This is her finest work yet––her craft on full display––a true master at the height of her powers. 'Harvesting Darkness' is her magnum opus, and one I will be revisiting time and time again.