Aphids in the Rose

Of Joan Baranow's Aphids in the Rose, poet Alicia Ostriker affirms, "This is a book every woman who has had-or might have-breast cancer, should read and cherish." In this chapbook Baranow charts her intimate experience of breast cancer, from the shock of diagnosis to treatment to healing. She does not shy away from the blunt language of medicine, but wields a language of precision and apt metaphor in presenting a world where "force / asserts its fact." Interwoven throughout her journey are poems about the fragility and resilience of nature, where she finds she is not alone in her struggle. Plants and animals alike confront disease in myriad forms with unpredictable outcomes. In seeking answers to unanswerable questions, she finds that "even the trees are trying to remember." Yet, ultimately, Baranow withstands the ordeal of disease and goes back into the world with renewed gratitude and wonder. She sees that trauma is now transformed into signs of recovery, worthy of celebration: "Lovely / the life left / with its stitches."