Beating the Bounds

Poetry. Volume XI of the Hobblebush Granite State Poetry Series.

"The title poem of Liz Ahl's brilliant collection, BEATING THE BOUNDS, investigates the ritual walking of the boundaries of a town every seven years. Ahl explores psychological and literal geographies, what it means to inhabit a space, and the beauties and mysteries she discovers there. . . . These dazzling poems draw us in to the vibrant spaces they mark and make." —Ann Hudson

"I have been eagerly awaiting a full- length book of poems from this remarkable poet and Liz Ahl has delivered a stunner! In her beautifully realized collection, Ahl sets out 'to trace the contours / of the terrestrial constellations-the sets of lines / we name parish, town, body: all synonyms for home.' . . . And we are walking that path with her, marveling at the discernment and generosity of these poems, delighting in how they make the strange familiar and the familiar strange." —Karen McPherson

"Witty, unsparing, Liz Ahl weds a keen understanding of rhetoric with a lush savoring of language's pleasures. I hunger for more." —Robin Becker

"Growing up as a 'Navy Brat,' Liz Ahl long identified as the 'Woman from Away,' but in BEATING THE BOUNDS she embarks on the adventure of staying put in smalltown New England." —Grace Bauer