THE HEART NEVER PRETENDS
TO BE A BEAUTIFUL MUSCLE
A book exploring the collision of absurdity and reality, where the strangest fairytale
appears more relatable than everyday life. Poems sift through isolation, the body’s strength
and insecurity, marriage, and motherhood. A modern, lyrical, and visceral debut.
Praise for The Heart Never Pretends to Be a Beautiful Muscle:
“…[T]angible and uncanny… every pleasure features a knifed edge – ice cream cones are delivered by the drowning,
the birds themselves are murderous. These poems are compelling in the eerie manner of a siren song.”
– Rachael Inciarte, Poet/Author of
“Each poem in this rich and surreal collection forces the unfamiliar out of hiding into intimate moments…
Antelope eating popsicles, the body unrecognizable ‘from its shape like a body,’
monsters who know our names, gardens of ephemera innumerable, wild and thriving…
[H]er work furthers both quest and question.”
– Kristian Macaron, author of
Recipe for Time Travel in Case We Lose Each Other
May 2023
cover art - vanessa barragao