The Scarecrow of My Former Self

With vulnerability and gorgeous, lush imagery, Sarah Stockton presents a portrait of a life not defined by illness but circumscribed by it; a hybrid life of hospital visits and encounters with crystal healers, coyotes, iguanas. Stockton's poems of simultaneous rage and grace illuminate the realities of the chronically ill.

-Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of Flare, Corona (BOA Editions) and Field Guide to the End of the World (Moon City Press)



Sarah Stockton's The Scarecrow of My Former Self is a quiet, delicate hymn of the bodymind that both aspires and persists; though the poet confesses she "can't really do much / for... the world," - and yet. This book is a reclamation of visibility not just for Stockton's speaker, but for all who have a chronic illness. These poems create a metaphorical scarecrow, a kind of spiritual scaffold on which to hang some hope. Like a conjurer, Stockton creates a world of desire crafted from "bloodied dancing shoes, a mask // and a sea green bathing suit...."

-Jill Khoury, Editor-in-Chief of Rogue Agent, author of Suites for the Modern Dancer (Sundress Publications)