Critics describe Sajé's poetry as appealing to both the senses and the mind. They often find her poetry to be clear, well paced, and descriptive. Her award-winning debut collection, Red under the Skin, was embraced by reviewers upon its release in 1994. Angela Sorby in the Chicago Review, for example, declares it “a substantial collection, written in a voice that is consistent without being predictable.” Sorby later adds, “Even in her moments of weakness, this poet commands respect, because she never strains for false epiphanies or connections.”

In 2004, Sajé's second poetry collection, Bend, was published. Literary commentators note how skillfully Sajé presents topics as wide ranging as food and great literary figures. Some critics express surprise at her references to such writers as Cotton Mather, Mary Shelley, Marcel Proust, and Gertrude Stein. In the Women's Review of Books, Alison Hawthorne Deming describes...