But the main event is Rose’s wonderful poetry. Each of the poems is one long stanza, meditations on the meaning and appearance of each letter. In her Notes at the end of the sequence, Rose provides fascinating information about the background of each letter, including the numerical value of each, which ranges from 1for the aleph (א) to 400 for the tav (ת). The numerical values of the letters are key to gematria, Jewish numerology.
Category: Poetry Reviews
Creative Imagination: Unruly Tree and Self-Portrait as Vanishing Act by Leslie Ullman
Striking for their sharp focus and mesmerizing for their rich vocabulary, these collections transport readers to imagined realms that are also vividly real. It has been a productive year for this acclaimed poet and writing teacher, who released two new poetry collections within eight months of each other.
A review of Split Daughter of Eve by Catherine Gonick
Breaking open a double heritage, Christian and Jewish, Catherine Gonick creates a paradise where three sisters—the speaker, the younger sister, and the little sister—are all portrayed as daughters of Eve. Her full-length collection, Split Daughter of Eve, takes us on a deep dive where we find the speaker changing shape, changing perception, and even trying to reverse loss.
A review of Earthly by Jean Follain
Follain’s impersonal perspective puts him, in Francis Ponge’s phrase, on the side of objects. The natural features and man-made things that fill his poems are given presences of their own, which Follain brings out with a sharp eye and an understanding of their place within the human world.
A review of The Dingo’s Noctuary by Judith Nangala Crispin
The idea that we are all en route to returning to outer space is a healing and consoling thought, bringing together the many themes in the book in a way that is both beautiful and heartbreaking. At $130,The Dingo’s Noctuary is not a cheap book, but it is a work of art, and one that continues to call the reader back to find new threads, new stories, and new transformations.
A review of The Resemblance of All Things by Bernard J. Lurie
The book is divided into four parts. Each part is prefaced by a single prefatory line indicting that what follows is directed to a different biblical prophet. None of them speak in the poem. The prophets are addressed indirectly, through intermediaries of God, regarding matters about which they prophesied. It does not restate their views. Neither does the poem advocate on behalf of or against any faith.
A review of Level Watch by Mary Ardery
The speaker has a direct line that runs from her heart to the hearts of the women she is striving to help. At times this line becomes clogged, and there is a break, perhaps because of the strain of her own unresolved conflicts with drugs and alcohol, (Not uncommon in the field) but never to the detriment of the work. In fact, her brilliant honesty and self-doubt drew me in as a reader, leaving me to draw my own conclusions about how she was changed as a person as a result of this lived experience, which is what all good poetry invites us to do.
Alexis Rhone Fancher’s Poetry
The sequence of Rhone Fancher’s poetry is particularly inventive, offering a layered resonance that readers may find both empathetic and revealing. While its earlier stanzas carefully construct the scene, it is the ending that delivers the greatest impact — a twist shaped by irony, by the disparity of experience, and by an emotional and intellectual complexity that lingers long after the last line.
A review of Ring the Bells by Colleen Keating
This is a delightful collection – often thought provoking, sometimes poignant and always engaging. Keating understands the times in which we live. As she says in her introduction, it is: ‘a broken world with personal and collective emotions, pain of war and human travail that can bring us to our knees’. But gloom and desperation aren’t options for this fine lyric poet.
A review of Precarious by Judith Pacht
I marveled at how Pacht is a poet in constant absorption. From a Hammacher Schlemmer catalog to lines from fellow poets to topics like electrical currents and plastic surgery pulled from the news, the poet is a deliberate sponge whose words in the end are selected across a world of inspiration.