School of Fish by Eileen Myles

The school of fish mentioned in the title poem of this book live at the bottom of the sea, but are somehow addicted to light. In her ninth book, Eileen Myles writes about the longing for light, for passion and decency, in a world diminished by death and dulled by forgetfulness. At the center of this powerful volume is an essay called 'The Lesbian Poet,' which Myles delivered at the Revolutionary Poetry Symposium at St Mark's Poetry Project in 1994. In this important, provocative essay Myles claims both male and female poets among her lesbian forebears.