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OLEANDER by Catherine Mary Sabala

OLEANDER

by Catherine Mary Sabala

Pub Date: Nov. 30th, 2011
ISBN: 978-1461137184
Publisher: CreateSpace

A stark, succinct collection of honest poetry.

A vivid sense of discovery illuminates Sabala’s (Birdsong, 2006) second poetry collection. In “the brook,” she writes “but do not thirst, for the water is / here. I get to drink my fill of you.” Despite the stock comparison of love and thirst, unexpected line breaks heighten the tension, while her constructions compel the reader to read further and deeper because her lyrics contain within them an effect of unraveling. Reading her work proves to be a temporal experience, often pushed askew by the absurd. In “lady slipper,” she writes, “Cinderella wept. Barefoot / she leaned over the lake / to find her reflection / … The prince, now a frog, / leapt up to kiss her / she lapsed into an / orchid forever / frozen on his lips.” Sabala tends to slowly reveal and manipulate her intent where unforeseen significance and perspective can glimmer amid the sparse and uncluttered verses. Later, in “from this side of the fence,” she writes, “You were an antelope that knew no / Boundaries, although you pretended / to be the gatekeeper.” A sense of loss, longing and surprise flitters in the simple and clean lines like the moths she describes in “the moth ball”: “what lingering / is found in the light / the dance of moths / in failing flight.” In captivating meter, Sabala creates the shimmering effect of words echoing and answering each other.

A light collection of poetry that skillfully plays with language.