Cleavage - Wendy Mannis Scher

This debut collection Cleavage explores the breast cancer journey through diagnosis and

treatment as the world beyond the speaker’s own experience endures a pandemic, a climate crisis

and other ongoing challenges. The collection’s title, Cleavage, refers to the literal cleavage of a

bi-lateral mastectomy as well as the investigation into what humans hold on to and/or resist

releasing when they are challenged physically and emotionally. Using poetic forms including

pantoum, sonnet, prose poem, free verse, golden shovel, erasure, haibun, triolet, sestina, and

cento, the collection reflects the multi-faceted perspectives on illness and mortality.