Everyone Knows I Am a Haunting by Shivanee Ramlochan is a rightful reckoning of pain. Femme-duennes, mothers, mother-figures and violated virgins inhabit this collection of troubled souls. The lyrics here trigger spine shivers, especially "The Red Thread Cycle" at the the core of the book, a suite of poems recounting a rape.
If you dare to delve into Haunting, beware of the poet's powers of invocation in "I See That Lilith Hath Been with Thee Again" and "The Virgin Speaks of What She Endured". Many of Ramlochan's gorgeous lines mingle Shakespearean and creole parlance within a Caribbean setting. Like restless spirits, these poems will pursue you wherever you go.
