The speaker in these poems is unafraid of the forbidden. She writes as her subjects, what the collective "we" as well as "she" might wish to pass or gloss over, but she does not. In these poems what lies beneath the surface of life's facade is exhumed, and the truth pours out like confessions at the feet of the holy, with an honesty that is blinding and transformative. Dingle's poems are brave, richly textured, sonically intuitive, and they contain energy driven lines so candid they undo pretense. It is a poetry book of passion that belongs in your poetry collection.

--Gladys L. Henderson, Walt Whitman Birthplace Poet of the Year (2010), Poet

Laureate of Suffolk County (2017-2019) is the author of Eclipse of Heaven (Finishing

Line Press)

Susan Dingle's In Pilgrim Drag captivates us with stunning juxtapositions of the mystical and the mundane, the exotic and the everyday. In accompanying her on her pilgrimage from Kathmandu to Istanbul, to Jerusalem, and to Provincetown, we discover that Kali and Haggai Sophia turn our "sorrow into dancing." As we witness the poet confronting her history of whiteness, her personal losses, the injustice of the marginalized, and undertakes her journey of transformation, we are shocked with her into amazement at human fragility, the violence of faith, the awe-inspiring beauty of love and the "spirit bell" of ancient stone. Dingle's superb lines resonate with us long after we have read her poems.

--Pramila Venkateswaran, a core member of Women Included, poet laureate of

Suffolk County, Long Island (2013-15) is the author of several books including Trace

(Finishing Line Press), and most recently The Singer of Alleppey (Shanti Arts, 2018)

The cover for In Pilgrim Drag was inspired by the author's words. She beautifully described to me how these poems were about "broken-ness." How people can be broken and through other means like therapy, religion, or any other outside intervention, they can take their broken pieces and put them back together. In doing so, they can become beautiful and whole again. I wanted to represent this reconstruction process visually and I realized that mosaics are exactly that...a process where you can take fragments and broken pieces and put them back together in a way that is as beautiful or maybe even more beautiful than before.

--Mick Wieland, designer living in New York City