A kaleidoscopic, mesmerizing, playful collection of beauty in the vernacular, Sage weaves together [Marilyn Chin's] knowledge of ancient traditions and American popular culture. Chin's gifts of Daoist humor, literary scholarship, and, above all, poetic experimentation attest to her attention to form and rebellion. Chin's poetry celebrates, grieves, and even mocks human seriousness about our limited time on earth. She is a poet who witnesses our violences, joys, and human foibles and demands that we do not look away.--Pamela J. Rader "Rocky Mountain Review"
Chin is an accomplished poet, and she bends the rules to her advantage. Her gorgeous poems make vivid points about identity, life, death, conflict, and art.-- "Alta Journal"
[Marilyn] Chin writes with a fierce vulnerability. Sharing her deeply personal yet relatable experience during the pandemic, Sage is a window to the intense musings of a longtime activist poet that never rests. Both sage and succulent, [Chin] is a poet that holds your hand while she spins you at 100mph. Sage leaves you dazed and breathless, a profound feeling that stays with you, long after you've finished reading.--Thi Nguyen "Poetry Society of America"
At the height of her poetic powers, Marilyn Chin channels Sage, alter ego, orator of sins, praise, urgency, and truth. There is a sharp edge at the end of each epiphany, as fine as a needle, edging close to the heart. Chin approaches national subjects such as democracy, immigration, and injustice as well as the quieter interior subject of artistic creation. Sage is a brazen songstress who 'enters the doorless door and breaks the knob, ' and by all accounts is as tender as she is powerful, vulnerable as well as mighty. Sage reveals our 21st century complexities, straddling ruin and utter magic.--Tina Chang, author of Hybrida
Marilyn Chin's sharp-witted and fresh sixth collection, Sage, speaks to the current moment with the gravitas, humor, and bite missing from many a pandemic-born collection.--Rebecca Morgan Frank "LitHub"