Centipede : Poems

"It is rather fitting, I think, that Centipede is a collection of poems which takes its title from a small creature known and named for its many legs; this is a book with all manner of instruments on display, each of which contributes to its elegant forward propulsion. The text is a bestiary filled with creatures both tame and untamed: all of them roaming unfettered, unabashed, totally free." -from the Introduction by Joshua Bennett, 2022 Maine Chapbook Series Judge

"Sasha Goodwin's language is memorable and muscular-it's like listening to a great storyteller at a bar. Her imagination is dazzling; it leaps and alights in the most surprising ways. The speaker, bewildered and bewitched by the world, utters, 'The trees agree / that everything is temporary. I dictate / a letter to a bigger sea.' In these poems, linguistic pleasures resonate, delight." -Eduardo Corral, author of Slow Lightning and Guillotine

"These poems braid images of the natural world - animals, insects, plants and weather - around a strange, almost sardonic dime-store surrealism. There's a similarly divided sense of the self in the world, a speaker caught between complete susceptibility to the moment and a Zen-like devotion to observation - as well as quicksilver associations back and forth, resulting in compelling angles of insight. This is a highly original voice and an excellent first collection." -Joseph Millar, author of Dark Harvest: New and Selected Poems

"Like Joseph Cornell's shadow boxes, these poems pack a lot into their small lyric frames. Or think micromosaics, like the faceted eyes of a horsefly: an assemblage of seemingly random shards coalescing into a unified vision. Such is Sasha Goodwin's artistry in Centipede: Line by line, her startling juxtapositions-always intriguing, sometimes unsettling-entice us to circle back, reread and ponder, and ultimately see the world anew. I applaud this poet." -Richard Foerster, author of With Little Light and Sometimes None at All

"Sasha Goodwin's poems are elegantly constructed. Her images are continually shifting, juxtaposing the world humans have built with a profound sense of nature. Every moment is closely observed and every detail is evocative. These poems possess a gritty resilience. I find myself surrounded by the unexpected and welcoming a new way of seeing." -Stuart Kestenbaum, Former Maine State Poet Laureate and author of things seemed to be breaking