foreword by J. D. McClatchy
Volume 8 of the May Swenson Poetry Award Series, 2004
In his foreword, McClatchy speaks of the musical qualities of Lindsay's work: "It is impossible, reading her poems, not to hear a musical hand at work. This is not just a matter of delicacy or virtuosity. It is also a matter of knowing how to phrase a line. . . . Lindsay moves from detail to trope with utter poise, with an intuitive sense of what to sustain or emphasize. Her language is crisp. I can pick a stanza at random . . . and praise its plosive energy, its modulated vowels, its variety and élan . . . Where She Always Was allows us . . . the rare gratification of watching a poet-wonderfully accomplished, quietly persuasive-look back on a lifetime's worth of emotions and calculate their bearing on the present. In her craft is the truth."
