The Disappearing Letters

by Carol Edelstein

“Zeal is dominant and praise a signature of the poetry in The Disappearing Letters. Discovery is the goal of Carol Edelstein’s supple language — a turn of vision in an unexpected direction, an inward twist of clarity, an opening outward of new perspective, a coming together of memory and possibility. The voice of wonder in these poems is infectious.”

—Pattiann Rogers

“Readers approaching the end of The Disappearing Letters will come upon this question, ‘Who thrums life into what was plain?’ — and they will know by then that one answer is Carol Edelstein. Exploring dream, daydream, and acute wakefulness, Edelstein connects us with realms that are simultaneously askew and straight on: ‘we make the world as we go round on it, and link // when we can our two tunnels.’ Refusing to go gentle, The Disappearing Letters decries fading and flaunts perseverance: ‘There was no end to us, so we did not stint.’ ”

—Stephen Corey