Through Our Water Like Fingers, a Review of Millicent Borges Accardi’s “Quarantine Highway”

Ideological, sentimental, or unfocused urgency are just some of the challenges to overcome when creating poetry about a collective tragedy, especially when writing in the midst of it. After three years into the coronavirus pandemic, Millicent Borges Accardi’s fourth book, Quarantine Highway, is one such poetry collection that takes on these challenges. While her strongest poetry in this collection has effective tension in the poetic line, depth in language and tone, and a dynamic use of first-person plural perspective; the collection as a whole is not as strong as it can be if it had a more cohesive focus and a pace better integrating the pandemic with her Portuguese immigrant experience.     

At her best, Accardi’s poetic line is varied and bare boned. The expanding and receding pace of enjambment contributes to the sublime, emotional strength of her poetry. When seemingly restrained via her poetic line, Accardi’s language seems as if it’s ready to burst out, as in…