On Emily Corwin’s ‘tenderling’

Corwin’s debut poetry collection takes you into a world of intense imagery, witch hazel, and fairytales gone awry.

Emily Corwin
Poetry
64 pages
Perfectbound Trade Paperback
Review Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978–0–9991152–1–3
First Edition
Stalking Horse Press
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Available HERE
$13.99

tenderling, Emily Corwin’s first full-length collection of poetry, is a marvelous success. Filled with pain, joy, desire, and quietness, the metamorphosing speaker can never quite be pinned down and shows the changeability which exists in all of us. At once strong and independent, the speaker is also vulnerable and afraid, revealing her softness while maintaining sharp edges.

“if I go under wood, a girl darkling for curse, for
meat white, for thistle and sting. if I am brave. if I
bury all my dead parts […]
[…] if I am made of stone, if I
nightmare, bolting on every ground.”

(“hex,” pg. 13)

In examining the reality and flexibility of the self, Corwin delves into what it means to be girl, with poems which could often be described as gurlesque. The speaker explores taffeta and cherries and prince charmings, sometimes loving them, sometimes showing disdain for them, instead favoring devouring, consumption, bloodworms, and ugliness, and celebrating these opposite yet somehow equal elements.

“[…] here, a throat soured,
a hole plugged with taffeta. here, muscle
tissue. here peeled open with sugar ants.
[…] if you step in me, I won’t forgive. I
ruin, I hurt — […]”

(“tincture,” pg. 14)

These elements all work together to show the unpleasantness and conflicting natures that are bound to arise out of ingrained ideals. A beautiful example of these natures at war with one another can be found in “pretty pretty princess vs. the underworld,” which, in addition to its play with rhythm and repetition, puts a spin on traditional fairytales, as does much of Corwin’s work in this collection, sometimes lovely and sometimes horrifying, but always effective in its revelations about gender roles and expectations.

Not only does Corwin explore important themes, but her writing itself is absolutely stunning. Often writing in lovely strings of surreal imagery, Corwin plays with language in a truly unique way. She also does not shy away from working with various forms, all of which serve their respective poems significantly. A fantastic example of this can be found in “anxiety disorder,” which employs very slightly and increasingly offset lines which are subtle yet just noticeable enough to truly produce a feeling of discomfort in the reader.

“my sundress — black cherry, drenched. tonight I am caked, I spit
— brown sugar, autumn mums I reaped. throwing a hiss, throwing
spite around like a boiled nectar, how will I will myself out?”

(“marionette,” pg. 49)

Challenging what it means to be a princess or a good girl all while reviving and reinventing the traditional fairytale, tenderling is a collection of poems that will make you think and will not allow you to leave unchanged.