“Before I Had the Word”
Brooke Sahni is an EcoTheo contributor whose work appeared in our Autumn 2020 print issue and our new Spring 2022 print issue. Her book Before I Had the Word, published as the winner of the 2020 X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, is available now through Texas A&M University Press. Poet Maggie Smith says of the book: “Before I Had the Word invites us to consider what is essential and what is sacred… There are poems in this book that are etched in me now.”
Brooke’s poem “Eve Leaves Eden,” which can be found in our Spring 2022 issue, holds some of those same invitations. She writes in the poem, in the voice of the serpent speaking to Eve:
“In the city, there are fruit markets, but more grease, so many things to make a body feel good in the moment, you might, the snake warns, feel really bad later. But Eve, holding onto the snake’s every word, wants to feel some anguish…”
EcoTheo extends our congratulations to Brooke for the prize and publication, and our gratitude for the opportunity to share her work in our print magazine. You can find and purchase both through the images below:
