Red Dragon Press: Books, poetry. Title: Tribute to the Hound.

Tribute to the Hound

64 pages (1995)

trade paper, perfect bound

ISBN 0-9637704-2-X

$11.95

About the Book

This second collection of poetry by the Laura Qa exemplifies the ability to blend sensuality and thought with literary innovation. Inasmuch as the title pays homage to the dog that guards the gates of Hell, here are verses that venture into the realm of the soul and appraise survival after death. As it was in the myth of Psyche and Cupid, a successful passage and return from the depths of unreality grants a vision of immortality.

Laura Qa gracefully combines technical form and conventional style to create the perfect channel for her creative energy. Her words evoke lyrical magic that brings ancient and modern myths into a world of shared images. Her themes convey a wealth of imagination and intensity of feeling with an irresistible touch that reminds us of the strength of our desires, both secular and sacred.

Reviews

Jere Gibber, National Organization for Women, Northern Virginia Chapter News, April 1996
"Laura Qa is a wonderful poet ...."

Susan Cole, Articulate Contemporary Art Review, November 1995
"... I heard Laura read at the Borders book store.... In an environment sterile enough for surgery, Laura's lilt and phrasing made me feel like she was a tree, talking in tongue and groove."

Andrew Carroll, The American Poetry and Literacy Project
"... a stunning looking book... and even more important, the content is really terrific!"

Contents

Parking Garage • Star Quality • Closed for the Summer • Daydream • Chapter and Verse • Suicidal Obsession • Fast Traffic • Ritual Cleansing • The Epoch Tree • The Color of White • Strains of the Network • Dance of the Seven Colors • The Key • Ignominy of the Dead • 7th and E Sts. around 10 p.m. on Tuesday • Guilty Born • A Workers' Philosophy • Alone at Night • Untitled • The Baby Turtle • Spider • Sky Lord • Vox Angelica • The Wind • The Silence • The Snake Charm • Night of the Fool • Prodigal Child • After the Fishes • A Spell for Money • The Sleeping Room

Sample

Vox Angelica

Pages ravaged by painful eyes

within a cover of chalky print,

transformed by envisaged holiness,

are held in habitual placement

within the sanctuary of hope

exalting immortality.

The words cannot detach the cord

sustaining proclivities to order—

they resign to external obedience

colored as educated values

reasoning common expectations

as "God's will on earth be done."

But having read and truly tried

the meaning of silent images,

wisdom chooses a memory beneath

green earth martyred for paper and ink—

and fantasies claim all the universe

for the soul is a solitary church.

Other Books by Laura Qa from Red Dragon Press

The Crown of Affinity

by Laura Qa

Personal Values: Writings by Uncommon Women

(with Elizabeth Croydon and Dee Snyder)

True Stories: Fiction by Uncommon Women

(with Grace Cavalieri, Susan Cole, Jean Russell, and Dee Snyder)

The Voice of the Image