Keith, Sally: Two of Everything

Milkweed Editions, paperbackPublication Date: August 6, 2024Publisher Marketing: An abundant and anticipatory collection of poems exploring the season of waiting that precedes adoption. From Guggenheim fellow and celebrated author Sally Keith comes an incantatory collection of poems on the transformative process of nurturing new life and the practical challenges of starting a family. In Two of Everything, Keith depicts an evocative domestic landscape. An oriole weaves a nest of "straw, wool, horsehair, and feather" while hopeful parents meet with social workers, compile family videos, write, sketch. Intertwined with these scenes is a candid navigation of the US adoption industry and the unique obstacles faced by queer couples. "I want Amor to promise me that everything will be alright," says the speaker-poet. "But she won't." Interviews don't go as expected, mothers withdraw from adoption conversations, "the bees are dying again." Torn by feelings of shame for participating in a system