In Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart, a collection of poetry rendered in English and Spanish, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker (The Color Purple) presents a new generation of readers with her harmonic writing and powerful insights. The collection begins with an introduction by the poet, who wishes to respond directly to the spiritual and existential pains of the contemporary moment by investigating an "inevitable need to circle the wound." The poems that follow, such as "The World Is Standing Up for Palestine" and "Especially to the Toddlers of Iran (and Other Countries) and Those Just Learning to Ride Bikes," confront a multitude of political conflicts. Many of the entries memorialize individuals--famous figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali, as well as unknowns like an Iraqi mother and a Nigerian family.
One of the first poems in the collection, "Breathing," sets a meditative tone for Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart. Walker's even tenor, simple language and thoughtful attention to detail create a soothing atmosphere, despite the politically charged and often upsetting subject matter. While she never flinches from describing the murder of innocents and the separation of families, Walker maintains her spirit and a sense of hope. To avoid getting lost in the immensity of widespread destruction and a slew of violent headlines, each poem makes the political, the distant and the professional deeply intimate. Again and again, ritualistically, she reiterates, "I am telling you/ Discouraged One/ we will win" and in this way connects disparate bodies with a concept as simple as the intake of breath. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor