All That Held Us

The sonnet is, arguably, the most well-known poetic form. This is due to several factors, yet the ease experienced when reading or listening to the form and the challenge inherent in composing it are certainly near the top of the list of reasons. In All That Held Us, Henrietta Goodman’s collection–which won the John Ciardi Prize for Poetry–readers encounter a voice that delves deep into personal mythology to string along a series of poems reflecting a fascinating love of family. However, what Goodman’s sonnet sequence concerns itself most with is ruminating on how female relationships (with the persona’s mother and aunt) created ideas the speaker of the poems pushes back against while also embracing. These sonnets are each wonderfully linked with the previous ones by echoing a metaphor or literally repeating a key phrase but in a radically different tone and context. It is an elegant and impressive collection wherein each poem resonates, contributing to the strength of the whole.