Review of Thrust by Heather Durr-Smith / Persea Books, New York 

By Michael A. Wells

Reading Thrust  - poems by Heather Derr-Smith felt quite physical. The deep purple into black bruising, the hit that leaves you speechless, making love out of the kick and punch.
 
The poems in this book can be dark. Along with the violence, Heather Derr-Smith has brought confession, seeking, and grace. There are questions and there are answers for which there were no questions. With all the promise, the protecting and abandoning she seemed to find the “core of what once was, still flickering.”
 
There is lacing of existentialism that runs through this book like a vein of gold rich with reflection.
I appreciate the degree to which dissonance plays a role in these poems, but I’m that way about most all of my taste in art.
 
From soft sensuality to giving head in the George Washington pew at the Episcopal Church, Heather Derr-Smith has crafted a book that is like peeking into Joseph Cornell’s box of  life to find the glowing ember.