Abstract
"Slack-Jawed is a collection of poems and stories-in-verse that confront modern America through a lens of feminist surrealism. Populated by outcasts and lost souls, these poems wrestle with the frictions between the human spirit–vulnerable in its wildness–and the grating realities of daily life. Slack-Jawed swims in the clutter of the human psyche, celebrating absurdity while interrogating various faces of marginalization. This collection aims to challenge norms, both in language and content. Boldness pulses through the imagery, even as characters fumble in their attempts to form healthy connections with the world around them. Though the poems in Slack-Jawed often swell with a sense of anxiety, moments of magic are granted in the form of small rebellions and fresh starts. Against the backdrop of Florida landscapes, Slack-Jawed lays bare the ways that societal pressures pick at our spiritual scabs, humanizing those who seek connection in environments that hurt or belittle them. "