Nixon Landlock 4 Backpack - Black

Sarah Audsley's debut poetry collection, Landlock X, joins a growing body of adoptee poetics. Employing a variety of poetic forms, Audsley's collection co-opts the pastoral tradition to argue for belonging to the rural landscape—despite the inheritance of displacement and removal from a country of origin. By examining the consequences of the international transracial adoptee experience—her own—Landlock X tries to solve for all of the (adoptee's) variables and knows it is an impossible task that the "I", "you", and "we" of the poems only approximate.

From "The Black Cows in the Foreground", it is unknown where the bones of your mother turned to fragments none in the painting of the black cows. So where to grieve her body, as there is no parcel of land to plant sorrow in furrowed rows - the black cows graze.

The collection finds more questions than solid answers. Audsley's work explores the complex emotions and experiences of being an adoptee, grappling with the consequences of the international transracial adoption experience. Through the use of diverse poetic forms, the collection attempts to navigate the feelings of displacement and disconnection from one's country of origin, while also seeking a sense of belonging in the rural landscape.

The pastoral tradition is employed as a means of arguing for this sense of belonging, even in the face of the inherited displacement. The poems create a tapestry of the "I", "you", and "we" perspectives, reflecting the multifaceted nature of the adoptee experience. However, the collection acknowledges that the task of solving all the variables is an impossible one, and the poems can only approximate the complexities at hand.

In "The Black Cows in the Foreground", the poem grapples with the absence of the adoptee's mother, the lack of a physical place to grieve her, and the ongoing presence of the black cows grazing in the landscape. This juxtaposition highlights the disconnection and the inability to fully reconcile the loss and displacement experienced by the adoptee.

Overall, Landlock X is a powerful exploration of the adoptee experience, using poetic forms and the pastoral tradition to navigate the complexities of identity, belonging, and the legacy of international transracial adoption. The collection acknowledges the challenges and the impossibility of finding definitive answers, but in doing so, it gives voice to the experiences of those who have faced similar journeys.

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