The Wilderness: Poems

From the winner of the 2013 Barnard Women Poets Prize, chosen by Louise Glück, a daring and exuberant new collection.

Moving through myths of the American landscape, the fatalism of American Puritanism, family history, New England winters, aesthetic theory, and the suavities and anxieties of contemporary life, the poems in this astonishing collection ultimately speak about the individual soul’s struggle with its own meaning. “In its stern and quiet way Sandra Lim’s The Wilderness is one of the most thrilling books of poetry I have read in many years” (Louise Glück).

From “Aubade”

From the last stars to sunrise the world is dark and enduring

and emptiness has its place.


Then, to wake each day to the world’s unwavering

limits, you have to think about passion differently, again.