Appear to Dance
Alumni, 2014 - Creative Writing at The New School
Pink Trees Press, 2024
“Inside every torment is a reason to survive,” Linda Kleinbub writes in her new book, Appear to Dance, poems written during the Covid lockdown. After her own bout with the virus, working in her garden, reconnecting senses to her brain, giving flavor back to texture when the flavor has left, listening closer to a sparrow’s song, or practicing how to stand up straight again, these poems are accounts of daily lessons learned. Appear to Dance is a survival kit and therein lies its gift.
—Don Yorty, author of Spring Sonnets.
In Appear to Dance, Linda Kleinbub vividly captures the isolation, uncertainty, and necessary search for small pleasures we all experienced during the pandemic. Moving from personal to collective loss, this book abounds with poignant prayers, practical advice, and often playful lists. There is suffering, but also savoring — flowers and music – “A rock and roll party in my garden.” To read this work reawakens a sense of gratitude and appreciation, or as she puts it at the end of one abecedarian poem, “Value the gifts of / water and earth. / X-amine the entire picture — / yellow sun will rise tomorrow / zebras are still black and / white.”
—Elaine Equi, author of The Intangibles.
When the lockdown for the COVID pandemic was announced in March 2020, I sensed that we were embarking on a time of new trials and discovery. I decided to write every day. It was early spring in New York City and as an avid gardener, I was able to focus on nature’s rebirth with a meticulous eye. I contracted COVID in February 2021 at a time when the vaccine was beginning to roll out and was being offered to senior citizens and members of the population who were considered “high-risk.” My symptoms changed from day to day. Overall, I spent weeks in bed and feel like my health never returned to the level it was pre-COVID. Writing every day during this time allowed me to tune into the world with a conscious awareness which I believed helped me comprehend this difficult time. Thank you for reading this book and witnessing one person’s pandemic experience.