Nancy Cooke McAllister

Doing Right Nancy Cooke McAllister

The poems in this book recognize men as a different gender indeed from women. Men are ancillary flickering figures, implied rather than realized. Nearly every poem contains a shadow of a male, depending upon the poet for definition. Firm definition is often withheld or given to related objects, which are within the poem's micro-universe. Therefore, creating an insubstantial balance for men, suggesting the difficulty in achieving relationships with them. Other difficulties evoked in these poems are considered societally feminine such as fear of rejection and abandonment. At the same time, it is important not to overlook the evocations of self-reliance, leadership, perseverance, and the leaning to loyalty and compassion. Women have struggled against the larger society for hundreds and thousands of years. It should be plain to all by now that we will never stop.