This is a collection of poetry on topics both major and minor, from avocados and painful breakups to Passover. The poetry is mostly freeform, but ventures into rhyme on occasion, and includes tributes to Wallace Stevens, Emily Dickinson, and the poet’s late dog William.
The poems are full of unexpected images and mischievous perspectives, leading the reader to deeper thought about even the most trivial things (as poetry ought to do). The emotional range of the book is wide, from light playfulness to anguish, and the poet addresses each with the attention and loving care that human emotions deserve.
There are poems that will make the reader laugh out loud, tender and sensual love poems, and poems like “It’s Broken, Move On”, that crack the heart open with a few words. The poet has a particular gift for finding an unusual viewpoint, from the loves and griefs of bacteria to the vulnerability and honesty of low tide in a bracken pool. With humor, grace and verve, even a stomach ailment is transformed into a grand rebellion, and a back-scratching into a deep loving communion of soul and intellect. The poems are organized to some extent, but there is not a controlling story line, so a reader may dip into the book at any point and find something to capture the attention.
The author occasionally gets caught up in her own imagery and love of words to the point of occasional pretentiousness, and sometimes even over-cuteness. Still, there is something worth reading in each of them, and there is no poem in this collection without a sense of some new view of the world.
This is a lovely and intriguing collection of poems, full of life, color and humor. As with all the best poetry, it offers insights into the poet’s internal world, and thankfully, this poet’s internal world is a vivid and expressive one, well worth exploring.
Reviewed by Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader