Index of Haunted Houses

This is a book of ghost stories, and for the most part, ghosts are jealous monsters, intent upon our destruction. They never appear overtly here, yet we gradually become aware of the spirits in haunted houses in the way they tread over creaky floors, slam doors, and issue sudden gusts of wind. These poems are Koan-like-the fewer the words, the more charged they are. The engine driving the sense of haunting and loss is money, which Davis describes as "federal bone" boiling around us. Bison in Nebraska are reduced to bones, "seven/standing men/tall" fodder for the fertilizer used by farmers in the 1800s. There is, too, an equality to the hauntings-every instance has its moment, and persists, despite being in the past, present, or future. Index of Haunted Houses is spooky and sad-a stunning debut, one that will surprise, convince, and most of all, delight.