Out of the Ordinary

A gentle humor occasionally underpins the tender moments when we discover vast prairies of feeling bound within the cargo of everyday living. A woman, bored with her husband, recalibrates her life for a while with a new, imagined version of love; a Killeen of stillborn babies becomes the trigger-moment of loss for a mother; and a country girl discovers what it is to be different from the more knowing town girls. This is an Ireland some commentators deny exists. But Moya Roddy offers the reader a series of unfiltered snapshots as if to reclaim it. Each poem finds its careful focus, allowing us to remember our own lost moments and enter into dialogue with a poetic voice that is authentic and truth-filled.-Mary O'Donnell.