BEAR

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Karen Chase

Bear, Chase’s second collection of poetry, grew from her research for a non-fiction book about an illegal bear poaching operation. In the poems, the author addresses a bear, exploring the curious line between humans and other mammals, while other poems are written from the point of view of a prisoner, jailed for unknown crimes. Aside from these, there are many autobiographical and notional poems, subjects ranging from Chase’s girlhood polio to her directions about daydreaming.

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Karen Chase is the author of two collections of poems, Kazimierz Square and BEAR (CavanKerry Press, 2000 and 2008), as well as Jamali Kamali, a book-length homoerotic poem that takes place in Mughal India. Her award-winning book, Land of Stone, tells the story of her work with a silent young man in a psychiatric hospital where she was the hospital poet. Her childhood bout with polio sparked her memoir Polio Boulevard, as well as FDR on His Houseboat: The Larooco Log, 1924–1926. History Is Embarrassing, a collection of her essays, was released by CavanKerry Press in 2024. She and her husband live in western Massachusetts. Visit her online at www.karenchase.com.

Federico Fellini’s Birthday

Today Mom, you would have been 90 and I
Wonder what kind of old woman you
Would have become because when you died
You were young.

I never knew til now that
You and Fellini shared
A birthday. You’d both be surprised
How the world’s changed. Dad’s okay.

His wife, who is younger than me by far, is
Traveling soon to India and we, my husband
whom you barely knew and I, will stay
with Dad while she’s away.

You’d be amazed how small
The world has become. There’s so much
To say—I have grandchildren—for one.

If you could see Ruby Leah
Named after you, you’d
Die again, but this time
Of happiness.

Among other instructive pleasures in this new collection, Karen Chase’s Bear poems are an innovation. I recommend them to the reader—with caution, please!
— John Haines

Chase is fearless when it comes to the articulation of the imagination. Her work echos the philosophy of the dark romantics who advocated that the imagination is limitless and that art is the right place to share our best as well as darkest wanderings.
—The Berkshire Eagle

Often in reading Chase’s work I find myself commenting on how true a statement is. She has a great way of illustrating experiences we can all relate to . . . Chase sums up many emotions and images . . . we are right there with her . . . through the singular emotions, a scent or touch can bring to life, and along with Chase, we are able to marvel at the phenomenon that often something is closer once it is gone . . . Chase’s collection is sure to engage and challenge anyone looking for an awakening of lyricism and emotion.
— Another Chicago Magazine

March 2008
72 pp
Trade paper – 6 X 9.25
$16
978-1-933880-06-8

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