Uncoded Woman : Poems

“Lively . . . At times dreamily beautiful.” —CHICAGO SUN-TIMES Coding and decoding are threads running through the poems of Uncoded Woman, which together tell the story of a woman named Bead and her search for safe harbor. “LN1: You Should Proceed with Caution.” “D: Keep Clear of Me: I Am Maneuvering with Difficulty.” “YZ: The Words Which Follow Are in Plain Language.” The maritime International Code of Signals—a dictionary of ship’s pennants and the message they convey—becomes a symbolic guide to Bead’s journey, as she learns that some signs mislead while others illuminate. Along the way, the beautiful terrain near Lake Michigan forms a powerful backdrop to Bead’s life with Barn, her Native American boyfriend, whose struggles are in stark contrast to the wealthy resort community around them. From exhilaration to degradation, from betrayal to self-reliance, Anne-Marie Oomen’s poems give voice to a woman’s life on the edge.