Hamby’s ideas flow like a person talking to herself, and we get to listen in. Her free-association stream-of-consciousness is exactly the stuff of dreams, as alluded to earlier, so it’s no surprise that so many of the odes involve dreams. “Ode on the Rilke Metro Stop in the Paris of My Dreams” is one (“In this dream we’re in Paris, driving around in a car, / which is a nightmare…”).
Category: Poetry Reviews
A review of The Drop Off by David Stavanger
The Drop Off takes these notions of play, irreverence and art, and utilises the tools of poetry – redaction and silences, puns, the language of public discourse, rhythm and structure to lead the reader, almost by stealth, into sudden moments of intense vulnerability.
En Busca del Tiempo Perdido, a review of Indifferent Cities by Ángel García
Indifferent Cities raises compelling questions about the nature of family, of generations, of how we may reach a point in our lives when, regardless of whether our parents are living or deceased, we become, psychically, parents to our own parents and perhaps also children to our own children. Indifferent Cities, in inspiring the reader to consider these paradoxes, is anything but indifferent. On the contrary, it is poignant.
A review of Outliving Michael by Steven Reigns
There’s a great deal of nostalgia in Outliving Michael, of course, remembering a friend who died a quarter century ago, but Reigns is also remembering his own youth, with that same sweet nostalgia. Michael has gone shopping for jeans at the mall, the occasion for Reigns to make this observation about the immortality of youth.
A review of Daphne by Kristen Case, Blood Feather by Karla Kelsey, and Phantom Number: An Abecedarium for April by Spring Ulmer,
Each of the texts also explores the interrogation and violence of language. In Daphne, language is presented as violent, erotic, and philosophical. The text plays with and warps definitions (this is especially evident in the analysis of the words “ravish” and “tonic”) to reveal embedded power structures within the way we use language.
A review of It Wasn’t Easy to Reach You by Daniel Meltz
In all, Daniel Meltz accomplished what he set out to do with his collection of poems: to love, be kind, forgive, keep growing, even as an adult, and to have a dry sense of humor no matter how many times life knocks you down. I applaud him on his sincere frankness, and his book is a testament to his life.
A review of Title: Comin’ ‘Round: Selected Writings by James Sherry
Comin’ ‘Round captures Sherry’s expansiveness, reflecting an artist’s breadth of vision, while dedicating himself to fostering literary community both in his ethos of connection through his own writing and in his support of fellow writers through his Segue reading series and publishing work. Sherry’s circularity invites, questions and encourages.
A review of Bloodmercy by I.S. Jones
Jones’s poems are all told from the perspective of either Cain, Abel, or Eve. Bloodmercy is made up of six parts, including Cain’s opening prelude. Part two is mainly in the voice of Cain, except for one poem in Eve’s voice, “Contempt Towards Eden,” which begins, “Milton gets the tale about me wrong. Paradise is boring.” Part three contains ten poems, all in Abel’s voice. Part four switches between Cain and Abel, and Eve has one poem, “First Drought.”
A review of Stars Like Salt by Cathy Altman
I love how “lacrimae rerum” opens with a visual image and immediately blends observation with emotional resonance. Like all of Altman poems the imagery is very rich and with meditative and elegiac tones. This poem creates a sense of memory beyond words.
A review of The Heart of the Advocate by Angela Costi
I used to think that legal language was the opposite of poetic language. In her latest poetry book, The Heart of the Advocate, Angela Costi shows that this dichotomy is a false one. Drawing on her experience as a legal advocate, Costi combines legal tropes with poetic techniques to powerful effect, reclaiming what she calls “fossilised legalese” in ways that concatenates the poetic themes of memory, migration, and nostalgia with activism, injustices, and trauma.