In her latest collection of poems
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Elizabeth Cunningham takes an imaginative leap into a magical world that is also palpably real, a once-upon-a-time place that could exist just after our own time or long ago. Here we meet a motley assortment of people, a temple sweeper, a sword woman, a morose fool, a merry drunk, an enigmatic ancient dreamer, among a host of others. Human voices mingle with those of animals--the mouse who thinks it's an elephant, a flying pig--and also the voices of river, rain, tree, and stone. Through songs, dreams, and conversations, a story emerges, or many stories woven into one. Cunningham's hypnotically beautiful language draws us into this story, one we may dimly remember and long to hear again.