Boisseau's Reading

After attending Michelle Boisseau’s reading of work from “A Sunday in God-Years” one of the most interesting aspects of her poetry was her combination of theology and history. While theology may be self-explanatory with the title, the history is a little bit more intriguing. Boisseau often references her own personal relatives (usually greatly extended) and from this creates stories that entertain a “wholesome remembrance of the past.” While Boisseau’s poetry is heavily weighted in the past, she also appears to have taken a critical look at the present and the future. One of her poems includes a reference to 9/11 in which she states “the future isn’t what it used to be.” Boisseau’s inclusion of history is interesting in respect to her choice of titles. “A Sunday in God-Years” was meant to be in regards to a “universe transpiring in a nodding nap in God’s mind.” I feel that perhaps Boisseau’s uses this metaphor of “a universe” in order to express her ideas about the past and her wariness about the present and future. By including “Sunday” and “God” she is also able to attach her themes of theology which run through many of her poems.