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Casting Off catches the essence of family

By Laura-Claire Corson
Library Communications

Posted 6/6/2007

MADISON, Wis. – Having a family is both tiring and exhilarating, exhausting and breathtaking, according to Catherine Jagoe, author of the newest Parallel Press jagoechapbook, Casting Off.

Jagoe is both ebullient and serene when she talks about her life with her husband and son, as well as other people who have shaped her life.

All 16 poems revolve around family, from the joyful ("With Child" about her pregnancy) to the saddening, such as "Stillborn," which details the feelings Jagoe felt when her niece Roisin was stillborn. She writes, "Roisin, surrender / the wide air and the capacious lap of earth / the blue and purifying heat of fire / the rain and rivers, strands / of blackbird song / have claimed you / ashes to atoms to infinity."

Jagoe writes with long, run-on sentences when describing the passion she feels for her young son. In "This State," the entire poem is 23 lines long and is simply one sentence. This State "is splintered, breathless, frenzied, but trying to sound calm, / it's soy beans underfoot, the baseboard smeared with raspberry jam, / it's eating scraps of food after they have been chewed and then / disgorged into your outstretched hand, his saliva, your saliva," she writes.

Originally from Britain, she now resides in Wisconsin and writes about the Midwestern state as her new home.

It is clear Jagoe loves Wisconsin for its simple and peaceful lifestyle its residents enjoy. In "Wisconsin Wedding Party," she says, "I took a quiet road that afternoon, / a weekend city cyclist meandering / along the river's course through corn and soyfields, / pastures, woodland, hills and on the way / ... her face alight with happiness, / waving at the stout, retreating backs / of a wedding party being borne away, / full of hilarity, on a hay wagon."

Jagoe moved to the United States in 1986. She now works as a translator and interpreter, and is also the author and coauthor of two books on Spanish literature and culture. She is also a member of Lake Effect, a group of poets in Madison, Wis. that often has readings at local bookstores. Jagoe's poetry has appeared in journals such as Rattle, Kalliope, Wisconsin Academy Review, Poem and Red Wheelbarrow.

The Parallel Press is an imprint of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Casting Off  is its 50th chapbook. For more information, visit http://parallelpress.library.wisc.edu/chapbooks/poetry.

Orders may be sent to:
The Parallel Press
372 Memorial Library
728 State Street
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 262-2600


A selection from "Laundry List ":

Jumbo size kitchen roll.
Dredge life silt nightly.
Drudge.
3lbs organic chicken breasts and thighs,
bone-in but skinless. Vacuum
and mop floors. Closet errant boots,
coats, hats, trains, gloves, and underwear.
Surrender.
Migraine medicine. Mint leaves.
Change sheets. Bleach out
dried blood and muddy pawprints.
Drowse.
Buy Clifford the Big Red Dog
Band-Aids. Return
library books (16), pay fine on Passion
According to St. Matthew. Something
on hold. But what.
Hoard. Get Valentine.
Raspberry fruit leather.
Dream.
5 loads of wash on warm, mixed colors.
Root out those scarlet chenille socks
that always run. Do not forget.
Meander.
3 medium leeks. Make soup.
Tomato ketchup. Honey for tea, sore throats
and bribery. Bread flour.
Loaf.
Ajax. Extra virgin olive oil. Kix.
Scrub grime off bath and sink.
Thrive.
Get sitter Tuesday night (?)
This is my life.
Braided. Abraded. Frayed
and rinsed with light.

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