A longtime scholar of fairy tales, Jeana Jorgensen’s poetry is as evocative as her prose. She weaves words into stunning tapestries of thought and feeling, imagining how abused princesses escape their captors and why mermaids come to shore. An aging Snow White reimagines her relationship with her stepmother, while a young woman under a silence spell treats it as a blessing rather than a curse. Retelling classic fairy tales with a feminist slant, along with queer and polyamorous characters, the poems in The Thorn Key offer snapshots of trauma and healing, resilience and transformation.