The Crack in the Earth

A themed collection of poetry by Anne Becker, former Poet Laureate of Takoma Park.

"As you enter Anne Becker's The Crack in the Earth, notice her reverence for the

human body. In this journey from childhood to old age, the poet reckons with life

and its alternative-death. The haiku that prefaces this collection measures the

breadth and scope of this masterful work:

Two old women bellies

round like the moon, like

pregnancy-like childhood.

The old women may be sisters or a teacher and student. They are the survivors

who live longer than their men.

Occasionally, the poet breaks through to another world, a world of wonder as in

the cacophonous contrapuntal poem that gives the collection its name "The

Crack in the Earth II." It's a poem in three columns with impressionistic lines:

"...we don't/know where/we are-we/crouched low/to creep through/the tunnel"

and "disgorged//we are flying//out of the push/// of the breath//the air opens//the

thrust the/// threat and//we're flying//" While the poem describes two children

exploring abandoned tunnels, it suggests the act of a woman giving birth.

Becker's The Crack in the Earth creates an exuberance for living that defies age."

-Karren L. Alenier, editor, From the Belly: Poets Respond to Gertrude Stein's

Tender Buttons, Volumes I, II, III

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Sligo Creek Publishing Company
Published: 09/02/2026
ISBN: 9798995980155
Pages: 90
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.24d