If You Have Something to Say, Margaret

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If You Have Something to Say, Margaret reaches out with the heartfelt message: “we will help each other love.” These lyrical and prose poems reflect the cultural changes of Barrett’s lifetime, from ’50s bomb shelters, Russia and the Cold War to the current Museum of Broken Relationships in Croatia. Settings range from the poet’s birthplace in a small southwestern Minnesota town, to her current homes on the banks of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers, to exotic destinations like the Choruh River in Turkey. The heart of her poetry holds her large family and many friends, students from years of teaching, even a few beloved dogs, while considering—sometimes tangentially—life choices, social justice, and how to spend our time on earth. Some poems touch us with tender humor: “Mean Mr. Van Maes, / you shot our mutt dog, but Luck / lived on, three-legged.” In others, her plain language reverberates with poignant humanity: “I stand at his grave. Dad, I’m having trouble saying goodbye.”