God in Her Ruffled Dress

Summary

God in Her Ruffled Dress, written and narrated by poet and singer-songwriter Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein), explores the human/divine interface: body/spirit, temporal/eternal, illness/wellness.

With an original musical background and bookended by two poem-prayers, it has four sections: “Return to the Body” (on the author’s type 1 diabetes, Biblical scripture, and spiritual transformation); “Drum the Beginning of the World” (jazz masters, the power of singing); “Sever the Head” (pandemic politics); and “Propagate” (a female perspective on love, sensuality, birth, and death).

It was published in paperback by What Books Press. Poems appeared in The Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, Poetry International, Lilith, anthologies on cars and Greek mythology, and elsewhere.

“A book of deep seeing…intense listening... a series of divine pleasures” - D.A. Powell

“Stunning…weaves together body, spirituality, politics, and the world we live in…will stir your mind and bring you into beauty” - Kelli Russell Agodon

“Bears écriture feminine into the 21st century with grace, wit, and incredible technical dexterity” - Kristina Marie Darling

“Strange, musical, funny, sexy…exploring shifting definitions of the divine while staying grounded in the body, its strengths and illness and need, its miraculous desires...a deeply spiritual, feminist celebration in verse” - Girl Trouble

“A multifaceted collection that challenges the reader’s…understanding of topics from gender to eroticism… powerful physicality associated with the divine that is seldom approached so boldly...delicate sensuality and eroticism…A marvelous read!” - Full House Review

“Her experience of living with type 1 diabetes…convey[s] the intimate edge between life and death…Read this as a reminder...to release old ghosts...imagine and name the mysterious...life force that some call God” - Harbor Review