THE PHILOSOPHY OF STAYING IN HARNESS - DUNCAN MALASHOCK
“The Philosophy of Staying in Harness is a plain and honest testimony of personhood, at times ebbing with quiet, reflective wisdom, at others flowing with coy and unexpected humor. Malashock gifts us her yearning— a desire to invoke lust in others, a desire to be a coveted woman, a desire to express desire uninhibited…
The best part, Duncan is lying in wait for her readers, sharpening her pool cue at the Lesbian Bar, casting spells under the Coney Island Boardwalk, studying you from afar on a Park Bench. Though it’s clear our storyteller is often bewildered by people and their discomfiting lack of sentiment, this does not paralyze her; “i’ve found it necessary / to fall in love with myself,” as a self proclaimed Hot Girl who is Accepting Reality. Pay close attention, you might catch her winking at you from across the room.” - Nomi Burjorjee van Pelt
"Exploring the tension held by dual states of being (belonging and desolation; desire and shame; hope and fear), Malashock’s soft sincerity pulls the reader into her world as both voyeur and confidant: i've found it necessary / to fall in love with myself. // i'm warmed by the heat / of my isolation. Looking in the mirror, at years-old photographs, at who you once were and now are, this intimate collection asks you to bear as much of yourself while you read as you find shown within. The Philosophy of Staying in Harness lives in the dyke bar, in forgotten diaries, alone in bed after a date that didn’t go anywhere, least of all where you thought it would."
–Bee LB
“With a Dickinsonian appetite for the overtakeless intimacy of unafraid connection, The Philosophy of Staying in Harness enjoins us in the joyful pedagogy of chosen family. Delighting in the ephemeralities of the moment, Malashock’s poems radiate the queer luminosities of photoalchemy, holographs, and “minarets of fairy fire.” And, like amulets, her poems dignify as they protect us—in their company we regain the fragile disposition with which to swoon, linguistically buckle, lie down in the lyric girdle, breathe the alchemical gift of a beautiful uncertainty.” - Ethan Fortuna
“The Philosophy of Staying in Harness is a plain and honest testimony of personhood, at times ebbing with quiet, reflective wisdom, at others flowing with coy and unexpected humor. Malashock gifts us her yearning— a desire to invoke lust in others, a desire to be a coveted woman, a desire to express desire uninhibited…
The best part, Duncan is lying in wait for her readers, sharpening her pool cue at the Lesbian Bar, casting spells under the Coney Island Boardwalk, studying you from afar on a Park Bench. Though it’s clear our storyteller is often bewildered by people and their discomfiting lack of sentiment, this does not paralyze her; “i’ve found it necessary / to fall in love with myself,” as a self proclaimed Hot Girl who is Accepting Reality. Pay close attention, you might catch her winking at you from across the room.” - Nomi Burjorjee van Pelt
"Exploring the tension held by dual states of being (belonging and desolation; desire and shame; hope and fear), Malashock’s soft sincerity pulls the reader into her world as both voyeur and confidant: i've found it necessary / to fall in love with myself. // i'm warmed by the heat / of my isolation. Looking in the mirror, at years-old photographs, at who you once were and now are, this intimate collection asks you to bear as much of yourself while you read as you find shown within. The Philosophy of Staying in Harness lives in the dyke bar, in forgotten diaries, alone in bed after a date that didn’t go anywhere, least of all where you thought it would."
–Bee LB
“With a Dickinsonian appetite for the overtakeless intimacy of unafraid connection, The Philosophy of Staying in Harness enjoins us in the joyful pedagogy of chosen family. Delighting in the ephemeralities of the moment, Malashock’s poems radiate the queer luminosities of photoalchemy, holographs, and “minarets of fairy fire.” And, like amulets, her poems dignify as they protect us—in their company we regain the fragile disposition with which to swoon, linguistically buckle, lie down in the lyric girdle, breathe the alchemical gift of a beautiful uncertainty.” - Ethan Fortuna
“The Philosophy of Staying in Harness is a plain and honest testimony of personhood, at times ebbing with quiet, reflective wisdom, at others flowing with coy and unexpected humor. Malashock gifts us her yearning— a desire to invoke lust in others, a desire to be a coveted woman, a desire to express desire uninhibited…
The best part, Duncan is lying in wait for her readers, sharpening her pool cue at the Lesbian Bar, casting spells under the Coney Island Boardwalk, studying you from afar on a Park Bench. Though it’s clear our storyteller is often bewildered by people and their discomfiting lack of sentiment, this does not paralyze her; “i’ve found it necessary / to fall in love with myself,” as a self proclaimed Hot Girl who is Accepting Reality. Pay close attention, you might catch her winking at you from across the room.” - Nomi Burjorjee van Pelt
"Exploring the tension held by dual states of being (belonging and desolation; desire and shame; hope and fear), Malashock’s soft sincerity pulls the reader into her world as both voyeur and confidant: i've found it necessary / to fall in love with myself. // i'm warmed by the heat / of my isolation. Looking in the mirror, at years-old photographs, at who you once were and now are, this intimate collection asks you to bear as much of yourself while you read as you find shown within. The Philosophy of Staying in Harness lives in the dyke bar, in forgotten diaries, alone in bed after a date that didn’t go anywhere, least of all where you thought it would."
–Bee LB
“With a Dickinsonian appetite for the overtakeless intimacy of unafraid connection, The Philosophy of Staying in Harness enjoins us in the joyful pedagogy of chosen family. Delighting in the ephemeralities of the moment, Malashock’s poems radiate the queer luminosities of photoalchemy, holographs, and “minarets of fairy fire.” And, like amulets, her poems dignify as they protect us—in their company we regain the fragile disposition with which to swoon, linguistically buckle, lie down in the lyric girdle, breathe the alchemical gift of a beautiful uncertainty.” - Ethan Fortuna