Two recent collections by fine women poets interrogate significant myths, one Greek and one biblical. Both treat their subjects in depth with wit and insight, offering provocation and pleasure to contemporary readers.

In Psyche, Casey Catherine Moore interrogates, queers, and modernizes the myth of Psyche. Rich in explanatory notes and annotations, the book reflects Moore's extensive scholarship and her strong poetic skills. These poems present a Psyche for the modern world, but also reveal many aspects of the poet's psyche as she struggles to maintain equilibrium while navigating bipolar illness and sexuality outside the heteronormative.

The book begins like a classical epic with an Invocation to the Muses:

"Sing, O' Muse

the Madness of Psyche—of fires and floods—

and the glimpses of sturdiness

in between."

Polarities and binaries are already being interrogated. In a powerful passage in "Psyche Shares Too Much on a First Date," Psyche/the poet refutes the simplistic categories of traditional mental illness diagnoses and beautifully delineates the complex and dynamic nature of madness. I quote at length because the excerpt is not only exceptional in itself, but representative of the depth and richness of language to be found throughout the book.

"Mania and melancholia

la folie de circulaire

folie à double forme

manic depression

bipolar disorder//

Now they finally notice

we are sometimes still, with shifting

iridescent mollusk moods

as we move, as we create, as we hibernate//

We have stillness—naturally in quiet moments

grounded in our bones—and stillness through medicine.//

More than bipolar, more than two poles,

more than high and low,

mania with melancholia both on a shifting ring….//

I am not bipolar.//

I am filled with la folie circulaire avec

périodes de tranquillité—circular insanity, with stillness.

Nothing here is singular or fixed, sexuality and eroticism exist alongside intellectual and aesthetic pleasure.

"Psyche Makes Love With Thetis in the Water" is an intense, sensual depiction of an encounter between goddesses in the element that most represents the psyche, the unconscious seeking consciousness. In a conversation with her future husband Cupid, "Words flew back and forth in the garden," but likewise do Psyche's appreciation of Cupid's physical charms: "Cupid's eyes:/deep pools of chestnut quicksand/you want to fall into"; his voice, "whipped butter melting/on a fresh-baked roll"; legs "Carved like Adonis statues/and the bark of sturdy tree trunks." The erotic, aesthetic, and intellectual mix freely.

These brief excerpts only hint at the beauty, richness, and profundity of these poems. If you are not familiar with the myths depicted here, the book will provide a very useful and contemporary introduction. For those looking for a fresh take on these ancient stories, the collection will deliver. And for those of us on the madness spectrum, especially if also possessed by a strong creative drive, the book offers empathy, encouragement, and fellowship.

Order Psyche here:

https://tinyurl.com/2hfpdcbr

Learn more about Casey and her other writings on her website https://www.caseycatherinemoorephd.com/

The second book under review is quite different but equally fascinating. In Tobit Detours, Elisabeth Mehl Greene relates the adventures and misadventures of the eponymous protagonist of the Book of Tobit in a distinctively modern manner. As Greene explains in her introduction, "The Book of Tobit is a biblical novella, believed to be written around second century BCE…. Tobit is not included in the Jewish canon; it is considered canon for Catholic and Orthodox churches, and apocryphal for Protestants." Tobit himself is a Jewish man exiled in Nineveh in Assyria, whose faith is tested by adverse circumstances."

Greene's detailed notes and cast list are great aids as the reader travels in the world of Tobit. She brings her characters to vivid life and places them into the modern world, giving them modern English to speak while depicting their essential qualities and quirks. The best procedure at this point will be to present excerpts that give the flavor of Greene's style and thus lure the reader into the full experience.

In the beginning Tobit is in exile in Ninevah, performing illegal burials of other exiled Jews as an act of civil disobedience.
"The act of bearing witness

arc of my arm

driven shovel

Your life, cut short

minutes, days, months, decades…

vigil observed

At least by one…."

("Gravedigger, Before")

Meanwhile, in Media (a region in what is now Iran, legendary home of the Medes), Sarah, a young woman who is a sort of counterpart to Tobit as well as his future daughter-in-law), is plagued by the demon Asmodeus who has killed each of her bridegrooms on their wedding nights.

"EDNA, mother of the bride

She shreds

rosewater crushed and distilled

Sarah, my only daughter sweats

her prayers for death

MAIDSERVANTS

Miss a-little-nervous—we get it!

make an impression

get up today Contessa, gorgeous

flexible, you switch to SOLD!

accommodate rising powers

irresistibly pink!

buy one get seven, eight free!

offer sweet indulgences, roof terrace

gin & mimosa flax essences

most popular and passionate

candlelit dinner for two

the quintessential romantic evening

SARAH

book early, reservations fill fast!

sheer madness….

put two

and two together

but you try telling Anonymous

spirit to GTFO

("Two, Sarah")

And an address to Asmodeus directly:

"Arise from another place

death metal vocalist

Wield elixir of love

rosewood pamplemousse zest

Hybrid vigor, contactless access

your look starts here

Sneak peek! See it. Hear it. Be there

mischief in such a time as this"

("Three: Asmodeus)

God sends the angel Raphael to assist both Tobit and Sarah:

"Alien angel logic

flash healthy smile, aureate

winged power, persona flexibility

healer eagle, magnificent gaze

shining talaria sandals

wheels within wheels

We've been waiting for you"

("Five: Raphael)

These excerpts should give an introduction to the narrative, brilliantly related in the voices of the characters as well as an unknown but seemingly reliable narrator. They should also demonstrate the wit and frequently sardonic tone.

I urge readers to acquire Tobit Detours and savor the language, experience the range of emotion from humor to pathos, and gain some knowledge of an ancient text that may yet still speak to us in the 21st Century.

One does not need to be a believer to find charm and wisdom herein. Enter Tobit's world as presented by Greene and savor its color and substance. Get it here:
https://www.fernwoodpress.com/2024/02/26/tobit-detours/