The Hermit

Poetry. What is the hermit? A crab? A card drawn from a tarot deck? Sage, lunatic, scholar, mad scientist, philosopher or monk? A rebel or recluse, a wandering samurai, a stranger in an even stranger land, an immigrant, an exile, a tourist, a hero or anti-hero? Do hermits live apart from others or alone among others like them? Do they abide in the remote landscapes of legends or in our modern-day cities? Can a woman be a hermit? Who is not a hermit? In this third collection of poems by Laura Solomon, the Hermit embodies the complicated search for simplicity and shared solitude both at home and abroad. These poems explore the struggle to articulate a precision in language, people, places, and emotions by placing the poet at the heart of a monomyth. This is a gut-wrenching collection that meditates on truth, the unconscious, and the sacrifices of love.