Overview

"This collection invites readers to embrace the mosaic of existence and find beauty in the brokenness. ""Art History"" invites readers on a journey through time, mirroring the layers of history and emotion in the strokes of a painting. From Byzantine to Pop Art, each era leaves its mark, much like the artist's brush on canvas. The poem reflects on the parallels between the restoration of art and the restoration of self, exploring the complexities of identity and the beauty found within imperfection. In ""Breaking,"" the fragility of life is laid bare as a necklace breaks, scattering beads like memories along a path. Each bead holds a fragment of existence, a testament to the richness of experience and the inevitability of loss. Through poignant imagery, the poem captures the delicate balance between resilience and vulnerability, reminding us of the preciousness of every moment. In ""She Was Breaking,"" the unraveling of reality is explored through the lens of mental illness, as the narrator grapples with the unsettling presence of delusion. Through vivid snapshots of everyday life, the poem captures the complexity of navigating a world where truth and illusion blur, offering a poignant reflection on love, loss, and the search for meaning. In ""The Prom Dress Room, ""Color illustrations coordinate with the verse like perfect beaded evening bags in Hazlett's The Prom Dress Room. The poet examines poverty, depression, abuse, and more. Most of all, she celebrates the courage of women. Denise Low, Kansas Poet Laureate 2007-09"

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9781960462466

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Reviews

"PRAISE FOR WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Full of gem-cut details, Hazlett's poems waste not a single word. A pebble or a pie or a clock can signal a savior or disaster. Hazlett can turn the complex simple, as the brilliant do. She reveals the raindrops held by the cloud. -Kevin Rabas, Poet Laureate of Kansas (2017-2019), More Than Words These are poems on the dark side, for the most part, the lonely side, every line carefully crafted and paid for. They are poems of resilience too. At the heart of this collection is a sequence of ""prom dress"" poems, in which the poet artfully catches, in the elaborate descriptions of the prom dresses, the lives of these girls at one of their most hopeful moments. I see the making of these poems as the artistic response of the poet to life often broken like a snapped necklace, the beads picked up and meticulously repaired. The repair of the necklace mirrors the repair of the persona's mind. If the beautiful protagonist of Maupassant's ""The Necklace"" had, instead of working herself to the bone, written sad, beautiful poems about loss, then we might have seen poems like this, in which something vital is saved by the writing of lines shimmering with a thousand beads. -Brian Daldorph, editor of Coal City Review In Where Have You Been?, Sandy Hazlett, by crafting imagery with words and syntax chosen with exquisite care, reveals an ability to open world's one wants, no, needs to explore, that leave the reader stunned at nearly every turn of the page. New layers of meaning and intent appear over and over. There are so many memorable phrases in these poems, such a unique and creative lexicon from which she draws her lyrics. Poem after poem gives us the experience of new ways of seeing the world, new insights, and new perspectives. -Roy Beckemeyer, The Currency of His Light"

Author Information

Sandy Hazlett is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she was surrounded by poets and poetry. When she was in Middle School, her father, Theodore Lyle Hazlett Jr., and Dr. Samuel Hazo started the International Poetry Forum. She has been writing since childhood but she began writing with greater intent and study in 1992 when she moved to Lawrence, Kansas. Where Have You Been? is a selection of poems from that time.

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