This is not really a book of poetry. It is a book about an author trying to capture that ineffable something that has forced itself from the world into his perceptions: trying to find a form to communicate it to us.
This poet is the man to do it. He can handle a wide range of poetic styles and techniques. He uses stream of consciousness, slice of time, and various forms of poetry and prose. He even uses punctuation sometimes, although his rhythm is that of everyday speech and he shies away from rhyme.
A few samples:
“Thinking of Dinner at Lunch.” Well, we can tell from the title that this poet can handle metaphor.
A poem like “Leftover Chile” demonstrates his ability to create a mood through imagery.
“I Guess I’ll Have the Octopus” shows a sharp sense of irony, as the diner focuses on his meal while the world collapses around him.
“Along the line where building tops border the bleeding sky.” Is a line worthy of a poet of another age.
The poem that provides the title to the book is an example of the best of modern prose/poetry. It is whimsical, wry, and definitely appeals to the intellect. There is plenty to appeal to the intellect in this volume.
“My Magnum Opus” sums the book up perfectly. The moment of awareness of…something, anything, that desperately needs to be communicated in some perfect form. “To express appropriate awe in the midst of sheer existence.”
The poet is continually redefining poetry, or whatever you call his various forms of expression. Trying to explain the form. Frantically recording image after image, hoping that the next will be The One.
Unfortunately, he just misses the point. In all his searching and experimenting, he has omitted what many modern poets leave out: the emotional response. And I wonder if he went back to the original intention of poetry, if he appealed to our sense of rhythm and rhyme and caught our emotions at a non-intellectual level, perhaps he could achieve his goal.
Because the tone of the book is a bit analytical. While the poet shows the ability to communicate emotion, the feeling that comes through the clearest is frustration at the difficulty of his task. Poetry should be more emotional, attracting our emotional response more than our intellectual involvement.
But then, this isn’t a book of poetry.
So that’s okay, then.
Recommended for fans of good writing, and yes, fans of good poetry.
(4 / 5)
