Manic Dawn: Poems About Shape Shifters: Goddesses, Bag Ladies, Fairies, and Crows

Originally inspired by Diane DiPrima’s groundbreaking collection, “Loba,” Carole Johnston has created a powerful woman-as-goddess quest poem in “Manic Dawn.” Johnston uses verse forms inspired by the Japanese haiku and tanka to create a work that is deeply grounded in the rich Celtic legends of the Morrigan, the goddess-queen-crow whose varying forms connote both life and death, mortality and immortality. Johnston brings this ancient legend into contemporary life by means of a subtle interplay, a dance, between the shape-shifting Morrigan character and the poem’s persona. Their lives and stories are connected through an intricate web of exquisite imagery: music, crows, dance, the bags of the bag lady, moon, wings. Precise shifts in the images signal developments in the characters and ensure that the rich and varied mythic context of the poem maintains its coherence and integrity. The radiant beauty of Anne Milligan’s paintings provides striking visual complement to each section of the poem, amplifying the mythic themes that the poem develops. “Manic Dawn” is an exquisite and powerful volume of poetry and painting.Dr. Jonel Curtis Sallee