Drive
“Silently / pulling for itself, / the will wants the body to // give it what it wants,” Sexton writes in “Between the Car and the Sea,” at once a description of a car’s body propelling her onward, and of the poet herself, the one behind the wheel of this masterful fourth collection. In an extraordinary act of volition, the author does not stop at the trope of ambition, but powers instead toward the urgent concerns of the will, and intention.
In Drive, Sexton explores our most fragile points of connection—to lovers and family, to the living and the dead, and to oneself, one’s own life’s work—with the care and wisdom of one who knows these roads. In her hands, these delicate boundaries become navigable. They are both her route and her destination.
“Great poets teach us to see in words, moments, actions, emotions, and Elaine Sexton does this so vividly and visually that the reader, this reader, is there, with her on her ‘Drive.’ Continually inventive, often startling, the poems in this beautiful collection are a gift for writers, artists, and anyone who loves language.”
“In this dazzling collection, Elaine Sexton brings a life lived in poetry to a startling new premise: acceleration equals exhilaration. These poems make me long to be on the road in America, foot on the pedal and heart in the wind.”
About the Author
Elaine Sexton is the author of four collections of poetry: Sleuth (New Issues, 2003), Causeway (New Issues, 2008), Prospect/Refuge (Sheep Meadow Press, 2015), and Drive (Grid Books, 2022). Her poems, reviews, and artwork have appeared in numerous journals, anthologies, and sites, including American Poetry Review, O! the Oprah Magazine, and Poetry. She is a member of the faculty of the Writing Institute of Sarah Lawrence College, and frequent guest faculty at various writing and art centers in the US and abroad. She a member of the National Book Critics Circle, and lives in New York City and the North Fork of Long Island.
