The Vulnerability of Order

Martine Bellen’s third poetry collection taps into the irrepressible and often chaotic spirit which inspires artistic expression. With her swirling, luxuriant images, Bellen explores philosophical fragments from ancient Greece, religious rituals, the lives of historical women who transgressed the perceived boundaries of femininity. Here is slave-turned-activist Sojourner Truth holding court with Abraham Lincoln; here are Pocahontas, Calamity Jane, the outlaw Belle Starr, and Lola Montez, who, after becoming the Queen of Bavaria lit out for the gold rush of the American Frontier. Each woman has her poem and each poem arcs to the others, creating an electric portrait of life’s possibilities. Erratum: Copper Canyon Press printed an incorrect credit to the artist whose work appears on the cover of The Vulnerability of Order. The image on the cover is “untitled (butterflies and braids),” 1994, by Gregory Crewdson, courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, NY. Our apologies for any confusion this caused.