Just as the photographs of Ward 81 document a culture of what happened to women inside the mental institution, Gail Peck’s poems create a poetic album, depicting meticulous images that pierce one’s heart. You hold your breath as you watch Henrietta, her few belongings stuffed into a pillowcase, as she eyes the security door for a chance to escape. You find yourself waiting along with the inmates—waiting in hallways; waiting, shackled in beds; waiting, alone in a cell, hoping to see a bird fly past the barred window. Women, hushed into silence, wait in futility for the return of another taken away, screaming, “Kill me, burn me, murder me.” They wait for intangible gifts—hoping against hope for love, for kindness, for compassion. For the slightest, gentle touch. Peck, one of North Carolina’s finest poets and a master of the ekphrastic form, offers not a balm, but a chilling tribute to these women that will resonate long after these poems are read. Immense gratitude to her for rendering the souls buried beneath the poems some recognition and for dedicating the book to all who suffer[ed] from mental illness.
—Irene Blair Honeycutt, award-winning poet, author of Mountains of the Moon
Many voices speak in this book of poems describing photographs of women in a mental institution. There is the voice of the poet who views the photos, there is the voice of the photographer. And voice of each woman. Ultimately there is the voice of the reader as he or she reads the small book that packs a tremendous punch. Each photo tells a story; each story tells of a woman’s terrible fate. The reader doesn't know how these women ended where they are. The reader only knows that they are here. Trapped in this institution. The last poem, “Easter” holds some hope. This beautiful poem describes a napkin on each woman’s breakfast tray. The napkin has a drawing of lilies and a Bible. They cannot leave to attend a service and hope pales in thoughts of how long they have been here. The last two lines about waiting will break any reader’s heart. May we all keep the mentally ill in our hearts.
—Diana Pinckney, author of Hummingbirds and Wine
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Gail Peck is the author of ten collections of poetry. Her first full-length won the Texas Review Breakthrough Contest. The Braided Light won the 2014 Lena Shull Contest. Poems and essays have appeared in Southern Review, Nimrod, Greensboro Review, Brevity, Connation Press: An Online Artifact, Comstock Review, and elsewhere. Peck was awarded the Irene Blair Honeycutt Lifetime Achievement in Literature Award in 2020.
Author Photo: James Peck
Cover Image: The Getty: Genetic Disorder, Ktsdesign/science Photo Library