Weeping in the Promised Land (Paperback or Softback)

Weeping in the Promised Land is, on one hand, a meditation on our troubled, fractured nation at this deeply contentious, historic inflection point, and, on the other, a deeply personal evocation of her troubled personal relationships. This wide-ranging collection progresses beyond politics and a seemingly perpetual chaos, to a more settled, satisfying existence. Ekphrastic poems celebrate nature, laying the groundwork for a place of contentment: gardening, daily scenic walks and, ultimately, the reflective work of writing.

—Alan Catlin poet, Exterminating Angels

Part the autobiography of a woman in contemporary America, part social commentary, Jennifer Lagier’s lyrical collection is a powerful reminder that we live in fraught times. Lagier addresses a catalogue of calamities: the insanity of guns in the United States—“Nothing is Normal Here,” indeed—climate change, Ukraine, the underlying patriarchy. She writes in the title poem: “As America tears itself in two, / I find myself terrified, / too dispirited to mingle / despite pandemic’s easing.”

But there are also breathtaking pictures of nature—blackbirds, wild turkeys, the Pacific Ocean—and the acknowledgment of love that, though not loud, is life-sustaining/ Lagier writes in “Unspoken”: “At night, we fit together like lips / protecting a secret, proclaim infinite love / in intimate silence.”

—Charles Rammelkamp, author of The Field of Happiness, A Magician Among the Spirits, and Transcendence

Weeping in the Promised Land is a passionate, thoughtful collection of poetry abundant in carefully detailed imagery. Powered by propulsive verbs in parallel structure and deliberate asyndeton, these poems by Jennifer Lagier bring a forceful conscience to bear on memory, politics, and art. Perspectives of experience, perseverance, and determination reveal the poet’s commitment to truth in verses that reflect tenderness and fury, gratitude and strength.

—Linda Scheller, author of Fierce Light and Wind & Children