With impeccable timing, nuanced vocal shifts and calibrated movement—the adjusting of the skirt, the nervous twitching of hands, the folding of the arms in self defense—Ms. Miller creates an indelible, psychologically credible, pathetic character.
Coupled with the wildly unconventional dialogue that ensues between her poems’ speaker and the composite character of Baby—as the pair navigate drug stores, strip clubs, arcade games and garden patches—the reader is both drawn in and captivated by each encounter.
