Here I Throw Down My Heart

Colleen J. McElroy

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780822978435
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Poetry
• Index: Literature

The poems in Here I Throw Down My Heart prompt readers to see beyond the surface of images, whether that surface is a uniform, a prescribed setting, a familiar geography, or the surface that evokes the most social commentary, skin—the body itself. The modern world moves at a greater speed than the world of a few generations ago, so we look for ways to sort our likes and dislikes, to set our comfort zones. These poems say: "don't believe everything you see, look again." The poems look at how borders between countries, or between genders and class have deepened the lines between the haves and have-nots. While everyone is on a collision course for lack of food and water, those dividing lines seem more impenetrable than ever, underscoring the disparity between gender, race, and class.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface. Dancing in the Flaming World: A View of Alma Thomas
• I
• II
• III
• IV
• Acknowledgments