The Philosophy of Unclean Things

"'The dead bird is a kind of song.' Thus, 'The Philosophy of Unclean Things' confidently opens, setting a precise tone that is at once clear and inscrutable. In Rosemarie Dombrowski's hands, forthright statement is not explained, but an occasion to launch a profound meditation on Lorca's 'act of loyalty,' morality as 'a dilemma,' and the poet's ancient, sacred search 'for the words.' To say that this poet herself follows Dante's instructions to Calliope, "to strike a higher key, /to raise poetry from the dead," is to gesture toward the powerful spells these taut, smart poems cast. I celebrate this beautiful collection," said Cynthia Hogue, author of "Revenance."