Altar by Desree
Poetry Book Society Recommendation Spring 2025 Leonard Cohen when they are sitting quietly

when they are sitting quietly together

lived experience

‘Wayward

author and Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York

Altar by Desree<br><b>Poetry Book Society Recommendation Spring 2025</b> Leonard Cohen when they are sitting quietlyThe debut poetry collection from award winning writer and spoken word artist, Desree, Altar explores multifaceted dimensions of sacrifice, challenging its heroism and examining its ties to servility. The poems in Altar urge their protagonists to play neither lion nor lamb, but to live and flourish on their own terms. Each page glimmers with vivid, often devastating vignettes: we witness the resilience of youth, the strength of the Black female body,