Hold Your Own

A winner of the Ted Hughes Award and a praised creator of spoken-word performances, Tempest has written a series of poems inspired by the myth of Tiresias. When Zeus and his wife, Hera, fought about who enjoyed sex the most—men or women—Tiresias, who had been both, was summoned and lost his sight in the tumult. The slim book is divided into four sections: "Childhood," "Womanhood," "Manhood," and "Blind Prophet." The long opening poem tells the story of Tiresias, 15, walking through woods and seeing two copulating snakes. He strikes them with a stick and falls, waking up female. Tiresias adjusts to the switch, finds love, but changes back to a man after several years. After he is blinded, he becomes a prophet. "Childhood" has several lively poems that teens should especially enjoy. The descriptions in "School" will ring true for many young people: "We wander into school, happy children;/kind and bright and interested in things./We don't yet know the horrors of the building./The hatred it will teach. The boredom it will bring." In the "Womanhood" poems, the woman Tiresias is described: "The boy in her is strong some days/And calls out for a girl to touch." "Manhood" also continues the mythic tale; the angry poems in the final section, "Blind Prophet," may suit the mood of some young adults.