On the Way Out, Turn Off the Light

Poems

By: Marge Piercy

Narrated by: Marge Piercy

A bountiful group of poems - direct, honest, and revelatory - that reflect on language, nature, old age, young love, Judaism, and our current politics, from one of our most read and admired poets.

"Words are my business", Marge Piercy begins her 20th collection of poetry, a glance back at a lifetime of learning, loving, grieving, and fighting for the disenfranchised, and a look forward at what the future holds for herself, her family and friends, and her embattled country. In the opening section, Piercy tells of her childhood in Detroit, with its vacant lots and scrappy children, the bike that gave her wings, her ambition at 14 to "gobble" down all knowledge, and a too-early marriage ("I put on my first marriage / like a girdle my skinny body / didn't need"). We then leap into the present, her "twilight zone", where she is "learning to be quiet", learning to give praise despite it all. There are funny poems about medicine ads with their dire warnings, and some possible plusses about being dead: "I'll never do another load of laundry...." There is "comfort in old bodies / coming together" in a partner's warmth - "You're always warm: warm hands / smooth back sleek as a Burmese cat./ Sunny weather outside and in."

Piercy has long been known for her political poems, and here we have her thoughts on illegal immigrants, dying languages, fraught landscapes, abortion, president-speak. She examines her nonbeliever's need for religious holidays and spiritual depth, and the natural world is appreciated throughout. On the Way Out, Turn Off the Light is yet more proof of Piercy's love and mastery of language - it is moving, stimulating, funny, and full of the stuff of life.

©2020 Marge Piercy (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Her varied themes include politics (emphatically leftist), gender roles, Jewishness, womanhood, age, and mortality, all of which she approaches with a matter-of-factness that is one of the gifts of long and considered experience. Piercy shares her life with admirable honesty.” (AudioFile)

“Piercy’s collection is full of life, companionship, and the importance of advocating for others ... Multifaceted, [it] touches on her identities as activist, teacher, cat lover, novelist, and poet.” (Publishers Weekly)

“An ode to a life lived big and full ... Direct, earthy poems [that] steer us towards something larger than the self.” (Sophia Starmack, The Provincetown Independent)

Under the Spell of Marge Piercy

I hear her 80+ years in her voice, moving along with the musical energy of a 30-year old. It's marvelous to hear her allegros and largos, her crescendos and pianissimos as she reads. The collection starts off gently in memory: a superhero flying on a bicycle, a body uncoiling in the sun, desires in a dark closet. It grows into observation of the present and its possibilities. I’m being general, but Marge Piercy never is. She has all the detail of a storyteller: using a door, burying her stuff, losing organs, noticing beauty as well as trouble. My favorites are the raging expressions of neglect and care for people, cats, town, country, and earth. Marge takes us right into what matters most—love and passion. All of these parts weave together finally, so the collection ends where it begins, a blending of childhood and age.