Inverting the pastoral Sophie Cabot Black uses the keeping of animals and tending of land to interrogate the self and in turn reveal new truths about the social economic and political realities of contemporary America.In Geometry of the Restless Herd Sophie Cabot Black stages a powerful allegory for the social and political realities of our human world. Through hauntingly metaphysical poems set within a sheepherders domain Black conjures fields of harvest and resurrection of wagers and outcomesanimals to keep and those destined for slaughter. Here both singular voices and polyvocal choruses argue through discourse asking who has the real power and how are we to survive the violence we do to each otherBlackampampamp8217s scenes are at once oneiric and raw a squeaking gate wails against neglect a field receives a runt body a raccoon flees with egg dripping from its mouthampampamp8212all while lush rains and long winters quiet the dead.