Lynn Ross is a Minnesota native who grew up on a communal farm. She is a Macalester College alumnus, which I found out after beginning her first book of poetry; Seedlip and Sweet Apple. Her collection has a very specific focus. All of the poems concern Mother Ann Lee one of the most preeminent leaders of the Shaker movement. This would have been helpful to know going into the text. She doesn't reveal this outright. I suggest doing some research before delving in. At first I wondered why there was so much religious imagery. Although most of it was rather beautiful, "When night is folded tight like a prayer," it irked me. It seemed as if Lynn Ross was trying to beat the reader over the head with a bible. But when I discovered the origin of the subject matter, this made much more sense.
All of the poems are set in Manchester, England in the eighteenth century. Most are concerning religion. But some of them tie in the domestic. The last poem in the collection, "Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock", is essentially a long list of different foods. Some poems only have the murmurings of religion while others directly quote the bible. Although all of them are tied together, each could easily stand on its own.
I liked this collection, although, with some reservation. One has to be accustomed to more archaic language and have a sense of Shaker history to fully appreciate it. As a writer I found many of the lines very inspiring, "our hands holding you up like wings." However if you are not interested in religion, at least conceptually then this is not the collection for you.
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