In Terry Godbey's latest collection, Tango, we are given a return to life, a renewal of hope and thrill, a book fully inhabited by the past - with its cancer and divorce and the flipped scripts of the years gone by - and yet, stunning as it is, and just as improbable in the wake of grief, Tango brings us the rush and electricity of love. With Tango, Godbey dances her way, poem by poem, into a new life. -Brian Turner, author, The Wild Delight of Wild Things and Here, BulletTerry Godbey's collection exudes the endearing emotional intimacy of Ellen Bass mingled with the spunky sexy candor of Kim Addonizio. Readers of all ages will find kinship in these candid poems from the perspective of a woman in her sixties looking back and forward with grit, hope, poignancy, humor, and passion. She captivates with, "It seemed natural then to break free / of my addiction to men, / whom I had considered / as essential as ice cream," though she would have changed her mind if Jackson Browne had come knocking. Tango is a dazzling and satisfying tribute to womanhood. -Lana Hechtman Ayers, author, The Autobiography of Rain and When All Else FailsIn this compact, rich collection, Terry Godbey fixes her imaginative attention on truths one cannot possibly imagine when young and yearning to be older, wanting to "taste the cinnamon of summer nights." The gorgeous poems here pinpoint moments that bloom into deep experience and memory. They forthrightly examine and celebrate the ever-evolving present with pure verbal magic. Tango is a book I will share with many and return to again and again. -Susan Lilley, Orlando's Inaugural Poet Laureate, author, Venus in Retrograde
