In Zebra Lashes, Rikki Santer’s thirteenth poetry collection, she demonstrates once again her delight in wordplay as well as her knack to forge elements of surprise, philosophical meditations, and inventive renderings of subject matter. Each cleverly titled section is like a strand of pearls which weaves smoothly into the next section through personal narrative, odes to the real and the imagined, and political verse. Explorations through life’s ironies or dire premonitions for the future unfold elegantly as we are left with the challenge to enter mindful examinations of how our thoughts and actions affect others and our planet.
In Rikki Santer’s Zebra Lashes, social justice and surrealism bat their eyelashes at each other across the Anthropocene. It is a collection where Dolly Parton’s pronouns are “battery radio, Grand Ole Opry,/ and Crossover.” Where the “the unfurled syntax” of Ma’Khia Bryant’s “rainbow clogs” speaks truth over police brutality. The fourth section of the book traces the lineage of feminist artists from Artemisia Gentileschi to Leonora Carrington, situating Santer’s project in a historic, transnational context. The final section lands the book back in contemporary Ohio through vital critiques of the state’s battleground politics. In Zebra Lashes, Santer slings her iconic wordplay in solidarity with everyone in “plastic /eyelashes too heavy for a smile” who is “trying damned hard which should/amount to something.” Some turn to poetry to make sense of this world, but Santer’s sharp collection leaves us reaching for surrealism to survive this “lucky planet of a pebble.”
Allison Pitinii Davis, author of Line Study of a Motel Clerk
A fantastic collection of creatures inhabits Rikki Santer’s new book-from bears and bats to Dietrich and Dolly, all animated by startlingly imaginative language. The poet’s intelligence and wide-ranging curiosity leads the reader through “sequined tunnels” of wonder. At the heart of this collection is an urge to observe and learn from our shared creaturely world. Even below Santer’s seemingly light poems is a weighted underbelly, and the reader finds that s/he, too, may have “guzzled too much animal spirit.” This is a poet clearly enamored with words, their music and play, their charm and pith. I was entranced “from the gecko.”
Barbara Sabol, author of Imagine a Town
Rikki Santer’s Zebra Lashes pirouettes between the dreamy surreality and brazen honesty in a joyous linguistic dance. This book delights in overhwelming beauty of the mundane, declaring that a chicken “might as well be queen of something,” and muses on the way “a praticed telescope brokers distance.” What a vibrant and evocative read so full of imagination.
Emily Rose Cole, author of Thunderhead
Rikki Santer’s
poetry has been published widely and has received many honors including several Pushcart and Ohioana book award nominations, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2023, she was named Ohio Poet of the Year. Santer is a member of the teaching artist roster of the Ohio Arts Council, vice president of the Ohio Poetry Association, and a member of the poetry troupe, Concrete Wink. Her collection, Resurrection Letter, was grand prize short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. Please contact her through her website https://rikkisanter.com