Crossing the Double Yellow Line

Poetry. In this new collection of poems written, it seems, over an entire lifetime, Stellasue Lee reveals much of her identity to us -- from childhood to her 57th birthday, she is 'The Queen of Jacks,' ordering 'the usual' at the soda fountain....hers is the poetry of paying attention to the details, where it is possible to think that 'the offramp at Camarillo State Mental Hospital looks inviting somehow.' Here is a woman who talks 'with the rattling windows' during a storm, walks, 'naked, covered in blood' from her marriage, and always will 'begin again, to begin each morning the way a conductor lifts his baton...' Like the '...48 books in my office waiting for their chance to shine,' this collection is waiting to shine in your memory. Not only do 'Some things have the nerve to start again; roses, Sweet Alyssum, and Mint,' so does Stellasue Lee! Yes, she courts danger with an open heart which crosses the double yellow line, yet she prevails on both the safe and unsafe sides of the road, roaring toward the future. -- Alan F