While I meant to blog about each of these poetry books months ago, today’s timing is perfect. That’s because in just a few days, AWP goers can stop by to see Brick Books (Table C-7, Hall B North) in the book fair to pick up copies—and this is something I highly recommend. In the spring issue of Poets’ Quarterly, I’ll have full reviews for both of these, but I simply have to suggest you seek them out at AWP this week, too.
Carolyn Smart’s Hooked leads the reader through seven sequential poems about seven women: Myra Hindley, Unity Mitford, Zelda Fitzgerald, Dora Carrington, Carson McCullers, Jane Bowles, and Elizabeth Smart. Part persona, part dreamy perspective—past and present—these poems take you into a world, into someone else’s skin, and into herstory like only Smart can.
“Written on the Flesh” is the first of seven, beginning with this detail and epigraph:
Myra Hindley: July 23, 1942—November 15, 2002
Mass murder is a novel written on the flesh
— Ian Brady: 1938 –
From “Written on the Flesh”…
ii
as a girl I
used to write a lot of stories
laughed and sang
made up jokes
was bad at needlework
couldn’t bear domestic science
loved the mouth organ
played it for Maureen
mums liked me
I was a good babysitter
was a catholic, took communion
after that boy drowned I cried
and prayed and prayed
God is a disease, a plague, a weight ‘round a man’s neck
said de Sade
oh, God, yes
said David, who was there,
while his wife Maureen sat home with Mum
what’s all the noise about
Gran asked
it’s just the dogs I said
The details:
Hooked by Carolyn Smart
120 pages
ISBN 9781894078696
News & reviews at Brick Books
Buy at amazon
Buy at AWP Bookfair: Table C-7, Hall B North
***
Jan Conn’s Botero's Beautiful Horses is a sensual blend of dream and fantasy, with a hint of inspiration from Remedios Varo’s surrealistic paintings. This is a meaty collection where animals and humans blur lines as does wake and sleep, dream and reality. With a sense of loss and longing, power despite despair, Conn’s collection is both confrontational in its inquest yet comforting in its baring of the soul.
“The Event”
Here comes white death, the sky
thrill-seeker
shipwrecked,
the barked dog
thicker and richer and redder.
The event,
the golden syrup of it,
melancholy beauty, she’s
giving it all up: fan
focus, brocade gown.
You could be my antitype, my other
other, genesis of ringed
things, foolhardy gumshoe
locked in a cupboard.
Strange embrace.
Zebra hidden in a striped zoo,
let your thoughts go
loose and slack.
Make a run for it
before the light stumbles.
The details:
Botero's Beautiful Horses by Jan Conn
144 pages
ISBN 9781894078719
News & reviews at Brick Books
Buy at amazon
Buy at AWP Bookfair: Table C-7, Hall B North
***
Remember to visit Brick Books during AWP in the Bookfair at Table C-7, Hall B North. Also, check back for links to full reviews for each of these titles in the spring issue of Poets’ Quarterly. *** ***
This is so long overdue, as I have been meaning to share and encourage you to pick up a copy of Meg Kearney’s Home By Now (Four Way Books, 2009) for a long, long time. Belated or not, this is still a book I highly recommend for its cleverness, insightfulness, and pure joy of language.
Without a doubt, Kearney’s collection has earned–well deserved I might add–incredible praise and laughter for her metaphorical poem “First Blow Job.” I had the pleasure of hearing the poet read at a recent event and hearing the matter-of-factness in her voice sealed the sweetness of this humorous perspective for me. Here’s a quick taste (no pun intended):
Suddenly I knew what it was to be my uncle’s Labrador retriever,
young pup paddling furiously back across the pond with the prized
duck in her mouth, doing the best she could to keep her nose in the air
so she could breathe. She was learning not to bite …
I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t yet read the full poem, but you must believe the metaphor plays out so magically, so cleverly, that it’s probably the most known and loved piece from this collection.
Yet it’s important to note that Kearney’s collection is not made up of light, easy humor. In fact, there is much weight and heart–and disheartening moments–within this book, that the sheer complexity and variety of Home By Now alone make it a standout recommendation. To prove the 180-degree turns you’ll stumble upon, here’s a poem to consider:
September 12, 2001: View of Downtown
Manhattan From My Bedroom Window
The amputee insists
her legs are still
down there
She feels them
burning—
She knows
when the smoke clears
they will be
standing
Long lines that linger, short lines with emotional punch, persona and voice that capture your breath and make you crave more… Home By Now is a fascinating collection that gives so much in 60+ pages, in such an accessible style that’s zeroed in on language and emotion, it’s impossible not to recommend. Trust me, you’ll fall in love. Actually, don’t just take my word for it. Home By Now was the Winner of the 2009 LL Winship/PEN New England Award for Poetry, a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, and a finalist for Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year. Not bad. Now go check it out.
Buy it on amazon
Visit Meg Kearney’s website
