Lisa Mangini, "Bird Watching at the End of the World"

Bird Watching at the End of the World

by Lisa Mangini

Paperback; 96 pages

ISBN 978-1625491015

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Find out more about Lisa here.

4 sample poems here.

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"Fabulous in their diction, the poems of Lisa Mangini present a world of sadness and grace, particle and wave. Victims of the body, shadowed by the eighth Deadly Sin--not to be loved--these lovely vessels stuffed with philosophical gleanings and lyrical meditations make possible a future for poetry, and thus, for us."
- Alan Michael Parker

"...Mangini crafts a world that is uncertain and violent, that is made more so by the people in it. In the face of this violence... the speaker hones her keen skills of observance. These poems are Picasso'ed birds - they contain and are the brokenness of our world. If we are brave enough to pick them up, to hold them, we will know a terrifying beauty. This is all we have. 'This will have to do.' "

-Leah Nielsen

"By having the courage to confront disorder and chaos, Lisa Mangini reminds us that even though we live without closure, we must stay open to moments of communion by learning to live with 'quiet unfulfillment'...Mangini's vivid collection is compelling because the poems are hard edged, are solid because they are true."

-Vivian Shipley

"When we spend a lot of time reading poetry, I know we can become critical of the pursuit of love and the defining of boundaries in poetry—but sometimes, a poet chooses to address these exact topics, and they get everything right: they create something new, something meaningful, something entirely worth reading, whether it is within the context of poetry or not. Lisa Mangini makes this exact achievement in her premiere full-length collection, Bird Watching at the End of the World, as she addresses danger as it relates to the body, various forms of physical awakening, and hope, and the complications that come along with it. These poems are incredible, and unique, and lovely, and they invite us with such great ease to consider questions of our reality, of our awareness, and our consent."

- McKenzie Tozan