“Let the Dandelions Grow: A Poetic Portrait of a Transsexual Journey and the Human Condition” by Lee Ann P. Etscovitz is exactly what its title promises and then some. It is a substantial collection of poetry that feels both intimate and expansive, rooted in one woman’s life yet constantly reaching outward toward the shared terrain of human experience. Written by a woman who lived the first sixty-five years of her life as a man, the book carries the weight of long concealment, hard-earned self-knowledge, and the quiet courage it takes to finally live in truth. Etscovitz was a professor and a therapist as well as a poet, and that combination shows itself not through academic heaviness but through emotional clarity and deep empathy. Her poems are accessible without ever being simplistic, thoughtful without being obscure, and consistently engaging.
