For centuries, society has portrayed the woman as stoic perfection, as though forged of plaster and paint, without flaw or blemish, in no way acknowledging that she could be in pain, doubtful, afraid, insecure, untamed, ferocious, livid, opinionated, desperate, unloved, annoyed, confused, self-conscious, and most importantly and unequivocally, human.
Manners is a psychological exploration of the woman in all her many shades, both good and bad, both light and dark, both bold and still, both jealous and humble, both sweet and fierce.
It is an expedition through her bouts with conformity, and the manners—the unrealistic expectations and constraints—society expects her to uphold even when what’s churning inside her may render her incapable of putting up such a front.
These pages reveal a woman battered and broken but ultimately finding ways to rise above the blistering confines of change and his many unrelenting faces.
Manners contains six chapters of poems spanning the varied and complex stages of a woman’s life: from self-discovery to strength to weakness to aging to uncertainty to peace. The book finishes with a series of poems forging a love letter to women, romanticizing them in all their mysterious glory—and much glory there be.
In the poetics of Manners, the reachable but unbreachable heart of a woman boasts on full display for the world to scrutinize, fear, envy, behold, and perhaps, understand.
