Review: "Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter" by H.G. Dierdorff

Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter by H.G. Dierdorff
Published December 2024 via University of Nevada Press
★★★★

Inside my body, the doll house floating / on the coffee table, Dierdorff writes in the title poem. Outside, the seconds between light and sound / unravel whether or not God counts them. (16*)

Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter is an exploration of climate change and conservative religion—the wildfires within and without. I am finding that I like this sort of collection, where one or two themes wrap around each other and turn themselves inside and out; some of the stories here are about the ravages of religion and others about the ravages of flame and still others about, let's say, the burn scars left by some iterations of religion.

My parents named me Hannah after the woman in the Bible. Hannah / the woman who weeps and will not eat. The woman who disappears / from the story after she gives birth to a son. Hannah the woman who / prays so the priest cannot hear, her lips moving without sound. He / thinks she is drunk. (58)

The collection draws heavily on references and inspiration, some of which I can catch and others of which will be easter eggs for, say, readers who have a better knowledge of the Bible than I do. But I think this is one that will speak to a lot of readers: language complex enough to require some thought, but with themes more and more in the news and relevant to so many people. Some of the poems toward the end especially started to lose me (I like poetry—well, some poetry—but I freely admit that I am no kind of expert, and sometimes I can't quite muddle through), but it hit the mark between readable and tricky more often than not, and when the book ended I found myself sorry that there weren't just a few more pages to turn.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.