When Pattiann Rogers selected PYX for the 2004 National Poetry series, she praised the way Corinne Lee "skillfully interweaves wit, playfulness, and a joie de vivre with serious study and meditations." PYX takes its title from the box containing the host, a wafer that is transformed into spirit upon consumption. And Lee's poems effect similar transformations. Death, adultery, and a fractured marriage become occasions for redemption. Scenes from domestic life are juxtaposed with themes from art, philosophy, and literature. PYX moves effortlessly between high and low culture, between the mundane, sacred, and profane, exploring the possibilities of language with exhilarating vigor.
