An Exodus of Sparks

“Allisa Cherry's poems are more than sparks. They are flames. In this incredible collection, we are guided through a world of family, nature, love, and faith. It is not easy. The world is a violent place. But within Cherry’s deft lyric-narratives, we find we are not alone. This book is equal parts power, vulnerability, ecstaticism, and measure.” —Matthew Dickman, Author of Husbandry: Poems

“Cherry’s riveting poems are lifted by stunning paradoxes and striking juxtapositions: the biblical and the contemporary, the textual and the lived moment, the mystery of the body’s desires and Sunday school lectures on chastity. So too, remarkably, An Exodus of Sparks balances lyrical grace and gritty realism, heartbreaking tenderness, and shocking familial violence. Cherry chronicles the disorienting aftermath that follows the loss of a father, a brother, and a stranger struck by an SUV. Along the way, this perceptive poet peels back the surface to reveal the buzzing strangeness beneath each quotidian encounter. In one elegantly crafted poem after another, this wonderful book awakens us from our habituation.” —Yehoshua November, author of The Concealment of Endless Light