My Uppalavanna (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781956921809)

My Uppalavanna takes its title from the legendary Buddhist nun who was enlightened by staring into lamplight as she swept in the evening-and Pearl Kan's debut collection follows that luminous, domestic gesture into the fullness of contemporary life. Navigating the paradox between spiritual emptiness and the irreducible particulars of the world-lost teeth and dynamited buddhas, pelicans low against the cold sea, a child's sunrise lifted on butter and milk-these spare, precise poems move between Zen practice, motherhood, and the mystery of everyday perception with utter clarity. Both incantatory and quietly vernacular, My Uppalavanna is an astonishing first collection.