I first heard of Brenda Shaughnessy's work on a poetry podcast... some indeterminate amount of time before the pandemic. I filed her away as a poet to get to at some point, and then didn't until my current madcap poetry binge, and was pleased to find that I had stumbled into checking out yet another volume of queer verse. The pieces I like best are the ones about girlhood and adolescence, especially "Is There Something I Should Know?" which has the following line that stopped me short:

"But if I suffered sharply, I could scarcely trace it soft:"

And, I mean, wow, right? That thumps along so satisfying, so Dickinson-esque. It feels good in ear and mouth. It's smooth and round and contained, despite the colon that draws you deeper into the long poem in which it's nestled. That's a line to use as a social media bio, write on the cover of your notebook, tattoo on your heart if not your skin.

I think this is a collection I can try to tag along with and take something from.