Mary Karr Poetry

Mary Karr, born in 1955, is an acclaimed American poet and memoirist hailing from East Texas. Renowned for her bestseller “The Liars’ Club,” she intertwines hardscrabble upbringing and spiritual journey in her works.

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Loony Bin Basketball

Mary Karr’s ‘Loony Bin Basketball’ explores mental illness, resilience, and transformation through a game that transcends boundaries.

This poem is a good representation of Mary Karr's poems. Her work often delves into personal experiences, struggles, and the resilience of individuals in the face of adversity. This poem aligns with her thematic exploration of mental illness, transformation, and human connection. Karr's use of vivid imagery, metaphor, and emotional depth, as seen in this poem, is consistent with her distinctive style and the themes she frequently addresses in her poetry.

The gym opened out

before us like a vast arena, the bleached floorboards

yawned toward a vanishing point, staggered seats high

as the Mayan temple I once saw devoured by vines.

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