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Mary Strong Jackson’s From Other Tongues gathers words from other languages considered untranslatable into English. These words title the poems. Inspiration from the definition of these titles result in a fine collection of poems to please the English-speaking ear and palate. These poems inform word-lovers, entice dreamers, and spark thinkers to wonder the shades and distinctions of other languages while providing pleasure by Jackson’s fresh, earthy, and readable work. Her sculpted images range from sensual scenes of two gods moving the mouths of mortals to an old woman worrying the doorway shiny as she continually checks to see if anyone is coming. The poem titles come from 13 different languages. The definition of the Indonesian word, Jayus is a joke so poorly told one cannot help but laugh. In this poem, Jackson writes, one last orange blossom beer/and the stoop’s last step/twists your ankle/on what’s supposed to be the landing. The word, Tingo from the Pascucense (Eastern Indonesian) language spoken on Easter Island means to gradually steal all your neighbor’s belongings by borrowing and not returning. From the poem, Tingo,
he asks for scissors/I fold my hair into his hands/he requests a washcloth/I give my morning scent. Santa Fe Poet Laureate Emerita, Joan Logghe, writes the following, Just as her book, The Never-Ending Poem, brings the freshest approaches to a body of work, From Other Tongues is equally original and delightful. Mary Strong Jackson’s language and imagination invite me into a mind well-traveled and I am an unabashed admirer. I want to thank her for writing such a book, it will be coming on and off my shelf with frequency.
