The Mojave Road And Other Journeys
by Bruce Williams
Tebot Bach, Huntington Beach CA
Copyright © 2010 by Bruce Williams
Softbound, 67 pgs, $15
ISBN13: 978-1-893670-50-1
Review by Zvi A. Sesling
On my recent trip to San Diego I found myself in the chapel of
a Lutheran church in Pebble Beach where they hold a poetry reading
the second Sunday of each month.
On this particular day Bruce Williams was the featured reader. Standing
in front of a mosaic window of Jesus clad in elegant robes, Williams was
dressed in boots, baggy jeans, a T-shirt that had some printed writing, the
last word of which was evil and over that a brown leather vest.
Williams is probably in his 60s, short, bald with some gray hair and a gray beard and moustache. When he reads he rhythmically bend forward like an Orthodox Jew and recites what is on the printed page in a strong clear voice. It is the voice that you will also find in his book: clear and strong. It is also personal, reflecting on his prostate cancer, his wife’s illness and death, and nature.
In Williams’ poetry, nature is intertwined with life and death and his beloved jeep is the vehicle for his journey through life and nature. The mountains, the desert are metaphors for the rocky road of his experiences – and for his spiritual reawakening.
After his wife is cremated Williams poem AFTER HE BRINGS HER ASHES HOME
gathers his frail emotions in seven lines:
Ellen sits
on the mantle,
seared inside
her cedar box.
There and
not there
like him
In another poem he recalls his childhood and how the simple became complicated:
PERSPECTIVE
I loved Kit Carson
when I was a boy
because he was small
and brave
before I knew
the scent
of burning fruit
heard of Canyon de Chelly-
when the Navajo were the rugs
on Grandfather’s floor,
the silver on his hand.
All in all I was fascinated by Williams’ journeys, his metaphors,
his sensitivity, his self-insight and most of all his confrontation
with the death of others and his own mortality.
Williams is close to nature as he was (and still is) to his wife, and
growing up in Colorado has given him a perspective of nature not
unlike other poets, yet with more human meaning.
Having said all this, this book is Willliams’ first full length book of
poetry, following four chapbooks.
The owner of two jeeps he tries to explore the desert at every opportunity
and readers should explore his 42 poems (and the end notes) at every chance.
They confront optimism, fear, love (and what comes after love). Highly recommended.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Mississippi Poems by Linda Larson.
Mississippi Poems by Linda Larson. (ISCS PRESS 145 Foster St. Littleton, Mass. 01460) $15.
Review by Doug Holder
Linda Larson and I go way back to the time when she was the editor-in-chief of the famed street newspaper “Spare Change News.” I was assisting the poetry editor at the time Don Di Vecchio, and I showed her an article I had written about the late Stone Soup Poetry founder Jack Powers. The article was rejected by some artsy magazine, but Linda liked it and published it-- on the front page no less. Well, I have for better or worse been writing articles ever since.
Linda Larson, like many artists and writers has struggled with mental illness, but has overcome many obstacles and has a long career as a journalist and writer, as well as getting a M.A. from the John Hopkins Writing Seminars .
The Ibbetson Street Press published her first collection “Washing the Stones,” and Larson has come out with another collection “Mississippi Poems” published by the well-respected small ISCS PRESS of Littleton, Mass. Joseph P. Kahn of The Boston Globe writes that the collection explores: “…along with more universal truths about family and relationships, the brutality and tenderness we visit upon one another, and the tools we must equip ourselves in order to survive.”
In her poem “Causalities” Larson writes about a heartbreaking drunken encounter with a damaged Vietnam War vet. Here she encapsulates his experience as a medic and the tragic notes he transcribed for the loved ones for his often terminal charges:
“If it is a girl, please name her Marie
After Mother, I know you two don’t get along…”
“When I get home to you.
We’ll get married. I promise you. A big wedding
Just like you want…”
“Please tell her I didn’t mean to hit her.
I’d rather die than ever hurt her.”
In the poem “St. Mick, First Crush," Larson captures Mick Jagger and in turn the heady atmosphere of the Sixties with a stunning flourish of imagery:
“Hashished I was into confusing your freckles with stars; so far gone I could only let you… Lucifer’s hummingbird, stunning in purple gorget, shooting up skyrockets, pulsating throughout a less than eternal night….. Yes Glorious word! You again, and I drank tea menthe, tasted the magic pipe…soon we were understanding Arabic, traveling the Venus express, winking at the eyes of smoke trees….
Larson has the ability to make a bottom dweller like a Catfish reach the high holy, as well as making the eating of Southern cuisine as evocative as any sensual pleasure. Highly Recommended. To order go to:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/mississippi-poems/14737743
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Report from Israel --Doug Holder's Trip, etc...
Sketchbook: A Journal for Eastern & Western Short Forms
Global Correspondent Report
Helen Bar-Lev
Report from Israel
12 December, 2006
Johnmichael Simon and I returned from a two-month tour of the Northeastern USA and Canada , the Northwestern USA and Canada on 5 October 2006. While there we were guest poets of the CPA at the Chocolate River Festival in New Brunswick 25.8.06 – 27.8.06 organized by Donna Allard, CPA President; in Hamilton Ontario 2 September where we met with Katherine L. Gordon, James Deahl, Ellen Jaffe and wonderful others; in Boston, guests of Doug Holder of the Ibbetson Press at the Newton Free Library; in Vancouver, guests of the World Poetry people, Ariadne Sawyer and Alejandro Mujica-Olea.
We returned elated from these wonderful meetings and readings and down to business immediately with getting the Voices Israel Annual Anthology submissions organized. Two plus months later this is continuing, and I, as Editor-in-Chief, have scheduled a meeting on the 26th of the month with the six members of the editorial board for discussion of those submissions which still have question marks as to their acceptance into the Anthology.
Another exciting project was a brainchild of mine – to have an exhibition for poets who are also fine artists at the Jerusalem Theatre – this is the most prestigious venue in Israel; tentatively we have fifteen people who will participate and a date in October 2007. Each artist will hang two paintings and a poem, and books of our poetry will be sold at the bookstore located in the lobby of the Theatre. Johnmichael will probably be putting out a catalogue of the show.
The Reuben Rose Annual Poetry Contest is currently being judged by Vera Rich of London (of Manifold fame) and the awards presentation will take place here in January, with a week of accompanying workshops. Vera, unfortunately, will not be able to come due to health problems, so other local poets will head the workshop this year. Possibly she will be able to make it later on in the year. Doug Holder will be judge for next year’s Reuben Rose Contest.
Johnmichael and I have been published in a wonderful variety of publications; Johnmichael has received a high distinction award for his poem PEANUTS from the John Reid Poetry Contest and will be published in the forthcoming Anthology SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME. And I was awarded third prize in the Dancing Poetry Contest of the Artists’ Embassy International based in San Francisco for my poem THE ENCHANTED DANCER.
We are moving up to our new home in Metulla, right on the Lebanese border, the middle-end of January and pray for peace.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Endicott College--Doug Holder/ Syllabus/HST/IST/SP480
Endicott College
Beverly, Massachusetts
College of Arts and Sciences—Liberal Studies
Course Syllabus
Course No: HST/IST/SP 480
Course Title: Senior Internship
Credits: 12
Pre-requisites: All program requirements through third year
Semester and Year: Fall 2009
Faculty:
Office Location: VL311
Telephone: 617-628-2313
E-mail: dougholder@post.harvard.edu
Office Hours: After class, email me, call me until 7PM
Catalog Description: A full-semester field experience requires students to apply academic theories to the professional work environment. The fourteen week period is planned and supervised by faculty and site supervisors. A bimonthly, on-campus supervision group provides the opportunity for students to reflect upon their experiences and learning. Students will be responsible for outside reading and writing assignments designed to integrate theory and practice.
Course Objectives:
At the completion of this course the student should be able to:
1. Set Personal Goals.
2. Learn as much as possible about the organization he or she is involved in.
3. Produce tangible accomplishments.
4. Report on learning opportunities: training sessions, conferences, etc….
5. Express general understanding of the duties of the job the intern was placed in. .
6. An understanding of what is important to intern in a career.
7 How did the intern adjust to the "culture" of the milieu he or she worked in?
Topical Outline:
Course Outline
CLASS #1 (9/11/2009)
Introduction of Students-- (Describe yourself--interests, etc...)
Introduction of Teacher
Review Syllabus
Discussion of site visits
Discussion of internship goals.
Assignment:
Journal Entries
CLASS #2 (9/25/09)
Discussion of journal entries.
Guest Speaker: Steve Glines
How has your perceptions changed from the first class?
Avoiding negativity.
Discussion of George Plimpton quote about internships.
Assignment:
Journal Entries
800 word paper describing the organization you work for:
Structure, Mission Statement, Culture, Career Opportunities,
etc...
Guest Speaker Report
Learning Agreement Due
CLASS #3 (10/9/09)
Discussion of Journal entries.
Are you afraid to ask questions?
The secretaries, and clerks-- a discussion
Taking an initiative vs. the "know it all."
Assignment:
Journal entries
CLASS #4 (10/23/09)
Guest Speaker: Paul Steven Stone
"If your boss tells you that she wants you to do something, don't say to her, "How should I do that?' Leave the room, and call anyone you can think of to tell you how to do it?" (Nora Ephron)—Discussion
Assignment:
Journal entries
Speaker Report
CLASS #5 (11/6/2009)
Guest Speaker: Gloria Mindock
Have you been proactive?
Discussion of journal entries.
Discussion of final paper.
Assignment:
Journal entries
Speaker Report
CLASS #6 (11/20/2009)
Discussion of journal entries.
Have you enjoyed yourself?
Did you make an impact?
Assignment:
Final Paper.
CLASS #7 (12/4/2009)
Final discussion of internship experience.
Hand in final paper.
Teaching/Learning Strategies:
Lectures, Working in the field, Written reports on the organization itself—and the student’s actual experience through written journals.
Evaluation Methods:
Internship site evaluation 40%
Attendance, constructive class participation, written assignments 60%
Assignments:
Starting the second class students will bring in a 500 to 800 (printed) word journal entry about their experiences. There will be a discussion of the clarity of the writing, if it is compelling and will it engage future interns. Writing will be focused on in the class because these skills are essential in the work environment.
An 800 word final paper that will discuss: Were the students' personal goals met?
What tangible accomplishments did they make? Did they acquire a mentor other than a supervisor? How did they view their role there? (Before and after the internship.)
Were they able to network? What differences did they notice between theory and practice? Will they try to get a job there? What did they find out about their strengths and weaknesses?
Short 250 word to 400 word reports on Guest Speakers.
Attendance Policy:
Since there are only seven classes students should make every effort to attend each one. If classes are missed this can affect the grade.
ADA Policy:
If you as a student qualify as a person with a disability, as defined in chapter 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973, you may wish to discuss the need for reasonable accommodation with your instructor. You should make this contact at the start of the semester.
Academic Honesty:
Academic Honesty: Academic honesty is an expectation of all students. Violations of academic honesty are serious transgressions in an academic setting. Violations undermine the academic integrity and mission of the College for all members of the community.
Plagiarism is a violation of academic honesty. Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s words, images, or ideas as one’s own. Plagiarism includes: copying phrases, sentences, or passages from sources without quotation marks and source citations; paraphrasing or summarizing someone else’s ideas without acknowledging the source; excessive use of paraphrasing, even when sources are cited; handing in a paper that has been written by or copied from another person or source.
Plagiarism is a serious offense. A faculty member may handle plagiarism as he or she sees fit or the faculty member may refer the student¹s paper to the Academic Honesty Committee for review and resolution. Plagiarism may result in failure of the course or dismissal from the College. Cheating is a violation of academic honesty. A faculty member may handle cheating as he or she sees fit or the faculty member may refer the matter to the Academic Honesty Committee for review and resolution. Cheating on exams, tests, quizzes or any other assignment may result in failure of the course or dismissal from the College.
.
Recommended Readings:
Take Charge of Your Career by Cynthia Ingols and Mary Shapiro. Barnes and Noble Books: New York, NY, 2004
Subject to Change Statement:
This syllabus is subject to change.
Beverly, Massachusetts
College of Arts and Sciences—Liberal Studies
Course Syllabus
Course No: HST/IST/SP 480
Course Title: Senior Internship
Credits: 12
Pre-requisites: All program requirements through third year
Semester and Year: Fall 2009
Faculty:
Office Location: VL311
Telephone: 617-628-2313
E-mail: dougholder@post.harvard.edu
Office Hours: After class, email me, call me until 7PM
Catalog Description: A full-semester field experience requires students to apply academic theories to the professional work environment. The fourteen week period is planned and supervised by faculty and site supervisors. A bimonthly, on-campus supervision group provides the opportunity for students to reflect upon their experiences and learning. Students will be responsible for outside reading and writing assignments designed to integrate theory and practice.
Course Objectives:
At the completion of this course the student should be able to:
1. Set Personal Goals.
2. Learn as much as possible about the organization he or she is involved in.
3. Produce tangible accomplishments.
4. Report on learning opportunities: training sessions, conferences, etc….
5. Express general understanding of the duties of the job the intern was placed in. .
6. An understanding of what is important to intern in a career.
7 How did the intern adjust to the "culture" of the milieu he or she worked in?
Topical Outline:
Course Outline
CLASS #1 (9/11/2009)
Introduction of Students-- (Describe yourself--interests, etc...)
Introduction of Teacher
Review Syllabus
Discussion of site visits
Discussion of internship goals.
Assignment:
Journal Entries
CLASS #2 (9/25/09)
Discussion of journal entries.
Guest Speaker: Steve Glines
How has your perceptions changed from the first class?
Avoiding negativity.
Discussion of George Plimpton quote about internships.
Assignment:
Journal Entries
800 word paper describing the organization you work for:
Structure, Mission Statement, Culture, Career Opportunities,
etc...
Guest Speaker Report
Learning Agreement Due
CLASS #3 (10/9/09)
Discussion of Journal entries.
Are you afraid to ask questions?
The secretaries, and clerks-- a discussion
Taking an initiative vs. the "know it all."
Assignment:
Journal entries
CLASS #4 (10/23/09)
Guest Speaker: Paul Steven Stone
"If your boss tells you that she wants you to do something, don't say to her, "How should I do that?' Leave the room, and call anyone you can think of to tell you how to do it?" (Nora Ephron)—Discussion
Assignment:
Journal entries
Speaker Report
CLASS #5 (11/6/2009)
Guest Speaker: Gloria Mindock
Have you been proactive?
Discussion of journal entries.
Discussion of final paper.
Assignment:
Journal entries
Speaker Report
CLASS #6 (11/20/2009)
Discussion of journal entries.
Have you enjoyed yourself?
Did you make an impact?
Assignment:
Final Paper.
CLASS #7 (12/4/2009)
Final discussion of internship experience.
Hand in final paper.
Teaching/Learning Strategies:
Lectures, Working in the field, Written reports on the organization itself—and the student’s actual experience through written journals.
Evaluation Methods:
Internship site evaluation 40%
Attendance, constructive class participation, written assignments 60%
Assignments:
Starting the second class students will bring in a 500 to 800 (printed) word journal entry about their experiences. There will be a discussion of the clarity of the writing, if it is compelling and will it engage future interns. Writing will be focused on in the class because these skills are essential in the work environment.
An 800 word final paper that will discuss: Were the students' personal goals met?
What tangible accomplishments did they make? Did they acquire a mentor other than a supervisor? How did they view their role there? (Before and after the internship.)
Were they able to network? What differences did they notice between theory and practice? Will they try to get a job there? What did they find out about their strengths and weaknesses?
Short 250 word to 400 word reports on Guest Speakers.
Attendance Policy:
Since there are only seven classes students should make every effort to attend each one. If classes are missed this can affect the grade.
ADA Policy:
If you as a student qualify as a person with a disability, as defined in chapter 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973, you may wish to discuss the need for reasonable accommodation with your instructor. You should make this contact at the start of the semester.
Academic Honesty:
Academic Honesty: Academic honesty is an expectation of all students. Violations of academic honesty are serious transgressions in an academic setting. Violations undermine the academic integrity and mission of the College for all members of the community.
Plagiarism is a violation of academic honesty. Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s words, images, or ideas as one’s own. Plagiarism includes: copying phrases, sentences, or passages from sources without quotation marks and source citations; paraphrasing or summarizing someone else’s ideas without acknowledging the source; excessive use of paraphrasing, even when sources are cited; handing in a paper that has been written by or copied from another person or source.
Plagiarism is a serious offense. A faculty member may handle plagiarism as he or she sees fit or the faculty member may refer the student¹s paper to the Academic Honesty Committee for review and resolution. Plagiarism may result in failure of the course or dismissal from the College. Cheating is a violation of academic honesty. A faculty member may handle cheating as he or she sees fit or the faculty member may refer the matter to the Academic Honesty Committee for review and resolution. Cheating on exams, tests, quizzes or any other assignment may result in failure of the course or dismissal from the College.
.
Recommended Readings:
Take Charge of Your Career by Cynthia Ingols and Mary Shapiro. Barnes and Noble Books: New York, NY, 2004
Subject to Change Statement:
This syllabus is subject to change.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
POETS AGAINST THE KILLING FIELDS
POETS AGAINST THE KILLING FIELDS
(Anthology); Trilingual Press; Cambridge, MA; $12.95
If you can turn off “American Idol,” forget for a moment the Red Sox and the Patriots, and take a hard look at the phase of late capitalism in which we find ourselves here in America, in 2007, you might just want to vomit. More likely you would have tuned back into “American Idol” long before you got to that point. The various poets of this anthology are not going to let you do that. They have your head in a vice and toothpicks propping your eyes open. And you are going to look. And you WILL see.
They shouldn’t have to do that to you. You could have seen for yourself. It’s a matter of record that Al Gore won the 2000 election. It’s a matter of record that the United States invaded Iraq for reasons having nothing to do with America’s security. It’s laughable that Saddam Hussein would have anything to do with Islamic jihadists like al-Queada. Contrary to the blatant lies of George W. Bush, the US has introduced torture as a standard operating procedure in interrogating detainees regardless of how much evidence there may or may not be that they are involved with terrorists. Waterboarding is a method of torture used as far back as the Inquisition. How interesting that torture is instituted by a President that used to enjoy blowing up frogs as a kid. But I digress.
The US turned Iraq, which had a large middle class and was a developed nation, albeit under dictatorial rule, into a nightmarish hell-hole. And the US will not leave even when Iraq’s oil is in the hands of American oil companies. Iraqi families have seen their loved ones gunned down or imprisoned almost at random by either rival militias, gangs of thugs or US troops.
My point here is that all too many Americans are oblivious to the suffering of others around the world even when that suffering is directly caused by the US or its client, Israel. All too many Americans are oblivious that our country is moving closer to authoritarianism every day. And this anthology may make you uncomfortable if you are one of the oblivious. And if you are, read deeply then throw your TV remote in the trash; become a citizen of the world. Let yourself address the “small girl playing with bullets found on war ground” as Aldo Tambellini does in “March 14, 2005.”
has the killing bullet
replaced your toy doll innocence
after your baptism by fire
did your parents survive
“In A Shout for Yusuf Hawkins,” Jill Netchinsky writes:
Bensonhurst
cardboard theater figures
drunk Italian inlaws
a gun on New Year’s Eve
Veterans reminisce
“Let’s go beat up some nigguhs”
The Poets Against the Killing Fields are here to tell you that the world is experienced very differently by third-world people under the thumb of US imperialism, and by working people and people of color here in America, than the unfair and unbalanced networks like Faux News would have you believe. Perhaps as you peruse these pages the scales will fall off your eyes as well and you too will find your clenched fist beginning to rise. Now say it with me: Fuck “American Idol!”
Richard Wilhelm
Ibbetson Update
(Anthology); Trilingual Press; Cambridge, MA; $12.95
If you can turn off “American Idol,” forget for a moment the Red Sox and the Patriots, and take a hard look at the phase of late capitalism in which we find ourselves here in America, in 2007, you might just want to vomit. More likely you would have tuned back into “American Idol” long before you got to that point. The various poets of this anthology are not going to let you do that. They have your head in a vice and toothpicks propping your eyes open. And you are going to look. And you WILL see.
They shouldn’t have to do that to you. You could have seen for yourself. It’s a matter of record that Al Gore won the 2000 election. It’s a matter of record that the United States invaded Iraq for reasons having nothing to do with America’s security. It’s laughable that Saddam Hussein would have anything to do with Islamic jihadists like al-Queada. Contrary to the blatant lies of George W. Bush, the US has introduced torture as a standard operating procedure in interrogating detainees regardless of how much evidence there may or may not be that they are involved with terrorists. Waterboarding is a method of torture used as far back as the Inquisition. How interesting that torture is instituted by a President that used to enjoy blowing up frogs as a kid. But I digress.
The US turned Iraq, which had a large middle class and was a developed nation, albeit under dictatorial rule, into a nightmarish hell-hole. And the US will not leave even when Iraq’s oil is in the hands of American oil companies. Iraqi families have seen their loved ones gunned down or imprisoned almost at random by either rival militias, gangs of thugs or US troops.
My point here is that all too many Americans are oblivious to the suffering of others around the world even when that suffering is directly caused by the US or its client, Israel. All too many Americans are oblivious that our country is moving closer to authoritarianism every day. And this anthology may make you uncomfortable if you are one of the oblivious. And if you are, read deeply then throw your TV remote in the trash; become a citizen of the world. Let yourself address the “small girl playing with bullets found on war ground” as Aldo Tambellini does in “March 14, 2005.”
has the killing bullet
replaced your toy doll innocence
after your baptism by fire
did your parents survive
“In A Shout for Yusuf Hawkins,” Jill Netchinsky writes:
Bensonhurst
cardboard theater figures
drunk Italian inlaws
a gun on New Year’s Eve
Veterans reminisce
“Let’s go beat up some nigguhs”
The Poets Against the Killing Fields are here to tell you that the world is experienced very differently by third-world people under the thumb of US imperialism, and by working people and people of color here in America, than the unfair and unbalanced networks like Faux News would have you believe. Perhaps as you peruse these pages the scales will fall off your eyes as well and you too will find your clenched fist beginning to rise. Now say it with me: Fuck “American Idol!”
Richard Wilhelm
Ibbetson Update
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Watermark by Jacquelyn Pope Review by Doug Holder
September 14, 2005
Watermark by Jacquelyn Pope (Marsh Hawk Press PO BOX 206 East Rockaway, NY 11518 2005) http://web.archive.org/web/20060506015704/http://marshhawkpress.com/ $13.
Jacquelyn Pope's new collection of poetry "Watermark" ( Marsh Hawk Press) is an undeniably melancholy, haunting, and accomplished collection of poetry. Pope's use of language is fine-tuned, clear, clipped, concise and most of all evocative. I was most impressed with the poems that dealt with human relationships. Her imagery beautifully defines estrangement, and the ultimately unknowable entity the "other." In "Mrs. Robinson," ( I'm assuming modeled after that disaffected, booze-swilling cipher of "The Graduate" fame), Pope paints a portrait of an empty woman with chilling precision: " He's fixed her off the page, where she'sabandoned: mid-century,semi-continential. Cold sunlightstabs the medicated air.Too bored to sitand suck the mentholated tipof her malaise, she wondersat the nerve that led him on" (41) In " By Light," Pope skillfully traces a woman's realization that even in what we feel are the most intimate relationships; we are ultimately strangers to one another. It is impressive how Pope uses the most banal of things such as: lamplight, and shadows on a wall to bring the poem home: " ...I sat/ in my own pool of light,/ still wholly/ untranslated into rooms that had/ learned you long ago. Our shadows/ hovered on their walls, dark forms/ drawn across the future./ Time flickered,/ fading from the room the night/ I saw our boundaries were drawn..." (39) When I read the work of some contemporary poets, often I find that the poems are obscure, inaccessible, and I simply can't relate to them. And just as often when I read small press poets whose work is accessible, I found that the poems are too facile and lack the heightened language a poem requires. Pope has written a collection that most of us non-academic poets can understand, relate to, and go back to in years to come.
Doug Holder/ Ibbetson Update/ Somerville, Mass. 2004/ Sept. 2005
Watermark by Jacquelyn Pope (Marsh Hawk Press PO BOX 206 East Rockaway, NY 11518 2005) http://web.archive.org/web/20060506015704/http://marshhawkpress.com/ $13.
Jacquelyn Pope's new collection of poetry "Watermark" ( Marsh Hawk Press) is an undeniably melancholy, haunting, and accomplished collection of poetry. Pope's use of language is fine-tuned, clear, clipped, concise and most of all evocative. I was most impressed with the poems that dealt with human relationships. Her imagery beautifully defines estrangement, and the ultimately unknowable entity the "other." In "Mrs. Robinson," ( I'm assuming modeled after that disaffected, booze-swilling cipher of "The Graduate" fame), Pope paints a portrait of an empty woman with chilling precision: " He's fixed her off the page, where she'sabandoned: mid-century,semi-continential. Cold sunlightstabs the medicated air.Too bored to sitand suck the mentholated tipof her malaise, she wondersat the nerve that led him on" (41) In " By Light," Pope skillfully traces a woman's realization that even in what we feel are the most intimate relationships; we are ultimately strangers to one another. It is impressive how Pope uses the most banal of things such as: lamplight, and shadows on a wall to bring the poem home: " ...I sat/ in my own pool of light,/ still wholly/ untranslated into rooms that had/ learned you long ago. Our shadows/ hovered on their walls, dark forms/ drawn across the future./ Time flickered,/ fading from the room the night/ I saw our boundaries were drawn..." (39) When I read the work of some contemporary poets, often I find that the poems are obscure, inaccessible, and I simply can't relate to them. And just as often when I read small press poets whose work is accessible, I found that the poems are too facile and lack the heightened language a poem requires. Pope has written a collection that most of us non-academic poets can understand, relate to, and go back to in years to come.
Doug Holder/ Ibbetson Update/ Somerville, Mass. 2004/ Sept. 2005
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