WOMEN'S POETRY THAT HEALS ACROSS BORDERS: A TRANS-AMERICAN READING OF THE BODY, SEXUALITY, AND LOVE

Drawing on the idea of literature as healing (Wilentz), this article examines the anti-dualistic restoring defense of the body, sexuality, and love in Angelou (African American), Cisneros (Chicana), and Peri Rossi (Uruguayan Spanish). My trans-American comparative reading seeks to transcend frontiers and join the poets' efforts to demolish racist, (hetero) sexist, and other prejudices. The authors insist on the body and emotions as providing reliable sources of knowledge; they propose that women can cure themselves by loving their bodies, poetry can close up the wounds of sexist violence, and respect for lesboeroticism can heal intolerant communities. While celebrating the female, the poetic personae embrace non-binary positions that defy sexual and gender stereotypes; moreover, their poems' cross-cultural and multi-tonal dimension functions as a bridge among people. In sum, the poetry of Angelou, Cisneros, and Peri Rossi has the power to cross borders and heal the world.