Madeline Hennessey

Body of Water Madeline Hennessey

This collection explores love, nostalgia, and the fragile human body through the lens of the natural world, its waterways and creatures. These poems weather monsoons, dive into oceans, and navigate rivers and lakes. They map fear and desire, shame and weakness, longing and satisfaction. They are concrete and imaginative, mythical and mundane, lyrical and plain-spoken. They ask what the body can do, what the natural world can show us, and what forms love can take. They capture a few small moments and convey the human need for both anchors and open sails.