From the contemplative beauty of haiku to the raw honesty of free verse, Where Have You Been? paints the human experience in all its complexity. This collection invites readers to embrace the mosaic of existence and find beauty in the brokenness.
“Art History” invites readers on a journey through time, mirroring the layers of history and emotion in the strokes of a painting. From Byzantine to Pop Art, each era leaves its mark, much like the artist’s brush on canvas. The poem reflects on the parallels between the restoration of art and the restoration of self, exploring the complexities of identity and the beauty found within imperfection.
In “Breaking,” the fragility of life is laid bare as a necklace breaks, scattering beads like memories along a path. Each bead holds a fragment of existence, a testament to the richness of experience and the inevitability of loss. Through poignant imagery, the poem captures the delicate balance between resilience and vulnerability, reminding us of the preciousness of every moment.
Full of gem-cut details, Hazlett’s poems waste not a single word. A pebble or a pie or a clock can signal a savior or disaster. Hazlett can turn the complex simple, as the brilliant do. She reveals the raindrops held by the cloud.
—Kevin Rabas, Poet Laureate of Kansas (2017-2019), More Than Words
SANDY HAZLETT
These are poems on the dark side, for the most part, the lonely side, every line carefully crafted and paid for. They are poems of resilience too. At the heart of this collection is a sequence of “prom dress” poems, in which the poet artfully catches, in the elaborate descriptions of the prom dresses, the lives of these girls at one of their most hopeful moments. I see the making of these poems as the artistic response of the poet to life often broken like a snapped necklace, the beads picked up and meticulously repaired. The repair of the necklace mirrors the repair of the persona’s mind. If the beautiful protagonist of Maupassant’s “The Necklace” had, instead of working herself to the bone, written sad, beautiful poems about loss, then we might have seen poems like this, in which something vital is saved by the writing of lines shimmering with a thousand beads. —Brian Daldorph, editor of Coal City Review
In Where Have You Been?, Sandy Hazlett, by crafting imagery with words and syntax chosen with exquisite care, reveals an ability to open world’s one wants, no, needs to explore, that leave the reader stunned at nearly every turn of the page. New layers of meaning and intent appear over and over. There are so many memorable phrases in these poems, such a unique and creative lexicon from which she draws her lyrics. Poem after poem gives us the experience of new ways of seeing the world, new insights, and new perspectives. —Roy Beckemeyer, The Currency of His Light
”Color illustrations coordinate with the verse like perfect beaded evening bags in Hazlett’s The Prom Dress Room. The poet examines poverty, depression, abuse, and more. Most of all, she celebrates the courage of women.
The Prom Dress Room is a collection of poetry and illustrations that were inspired by a room at The Social Service League, a thrift store in Lawrence, Kansas. The Social Service League was established to provide assistance for the widows and orphans who survived the infamous Quantrill raid on Lawrence on August 21, 1863. By the end of that century, “The Prom” had become an American institution, with every starry-eyed girl coveting the most gorgeous gown she could afford.
Hazlett recounts the experiences that led to her creation of The Prom Dress Room: “In Lawrence, Kansas, there is a unique thrift shop called The Social Service League which sells clothing, books, and household items and serves as a dynamic community hub. Upstairs, in its old stone building, the League has a room full of donated formal dresses which are given to young women to wear to their prom.
One winter I volunteered to clean and organize the dresses. As I sorted through their colorful variety, they began to tell their stories: Who wore this dress? What was her life like? Who would she become? Each week I took one dress home, made my amateur ink drawing, colored it in with fat pencils, and wrote the story of the dress and the young woman who wore it to prom. The result is this collection of nine illustrations and poems, The Prom Dress Room.”
Sandy Hazlett
Sandy lives on a 160 acre farm in rural Lawrence, Kansas. She reads and writes and manages acres of wildlife area including a 4 acre pond, and takes care of pasture for a cattleman with Angus Beef Cattle. She grows organic vegetables, and has a large orchard with apples, cherries, peaches, pears, and plums, and she raises layer chickens. She lives with her companion, Jake Vail, and her two dogs, a black lab named Henny, and a red heeler named Whistler. Her sons, Adam and Joshua live close by.
A portion of profit from The Prom Dress Room goes to benefit the Social Service League.
