Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert Volume 32 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780816515417)

The annual seasons and rhythms of the desert are a dance of clouds, wind, rain, and flood--water in it roles from bringer of food to destroyer of life. The critical importance of weather and climate to native desert peoples is reflected with grace and power in this personal collection of poems, the first written creative work by an individual in O'odham and a landmark in Native American literature.

Poet Ofelia Zepeda centers these poems on her own experiences growing up in a Tohono O'odham family, where desert climate profoundly influenced daily life, and on her perceptions as a contemporary Tohono O'odham woman. One section of poems deals with contemporary life, personal history, and the meeting of old and new ways. Another section deals with winter and human responses to light and air. The final group of poems focuses on the nature of women, the ocean, and the way the past relationship of the O'odham with the ocean may still inform present day experience. These fine poems will give the outside reader a rich insight into the daily life of the Tohono O'odham people.

Author: Ofelia Zepeda
ISBN-10: 0816515417
ISBN-13: 9780816515417
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Language: English
Published: 03/01/1995
Pages: 100
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 8.75h x 6.15w x 0.36d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/15/1995 pg. 73