rev. of The Owl Question by Faith Shearin

The Owl Question, poems by Faith Shearin (Utah State):The speaker of these poems, always quick-witted and warm, considers her place among the commonplace. While all of the poems in this debut collection deal with subjects close to home—family, childhood, motherhood—they shiver with a nervous tension as the speaker returns again to the fact that she has "taken [her] life apart many times, / to examine it . . . [yet] never understood what it was." These poems are complex while remaining grounded, and promise to provide the reader with a quiet pleasure. —Cate Marvin