Slag

SLAG is a book that dares you to be as honest in reading the poems as the author was in writing them. Nothing timid here - no retreat and no stingy reticence. Both scalding and beautifully considered, these poems move like something in pursuit, running after us. We all know how tempting it is to ignore those cracks in the foundation that refuse to be fixed, but we do so at the risk of falling through and living beneath ourselves. Mcilroy ignores nothing; living beneath, not an option. If life is sometimes hot grease in the face, SLAG holds the poems that still see everything and don't flinch. - Tim Seibles, author of Fast Animal, National Book Award Finalist Leslie Anne Mcilroy's remarkable book is as tough and finely wrought as iron. SLAG is the hard-edged beauty of pool halls, strip clubs and rust, dive bars and miner's dust. Desire looms large in these poems-these bodies on fire-laced with blood, spit and scars. They meet the most difficult subjects head-on and refuse to flinch: rape, abuse, illness, violence, near-death. But most of all, SLAG is a fiercely dazzling song of survival and strength - "a blessing on your lips you wipe away with a fist." - Erika Meitner, author of Ideal Cities, winner of the 2009 National Poetry Series Competition In SLAG, Leslie Anne Mcilroy is operating on all cylinders. She packs her lines with hard syncopation - sharp, clear physical sensations stacked one on top of the other to create a tough, honest, often unforgiving landscape, a landscape dominated by the body, the human body. SLAG immerses us in the physical world - frank, sometimes brutal - dealing with both damage and survival, where pleasure and pain struggle against each other. These poems remind me of sexy, sassy blues songs amped with defiance and strength. They linger long after the last note. - Jim Daniels, author of Birthmarks, winner of the 2014 Binghamton University Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award