A grab bag of musings containing its share of gems but hindered by a lack of cohesion.
A collection of brief, impressionistic verse, with occasional images and translations.
Watson’s (One Hundred Leaves, 2013, etc.) eclectic mix is an uneven but enjoyable outing. Almost all of the book’s considerable length is made up of micropoetry—short entries of about three to seven lines—which seem intended to be read both as individual poems and as components of one extended sequence. There is no narrative to speak of within the micropoems, but similar images crop up over and over again; water, nighttime and longing glances play starring roles. Much of Watson’s diction is fresh and unexpected—“brush me with / your loose- / leaf kiss”—while other word choices are plagued by cutesy rhyme schemes and trite rhetorical questions: “to feel vs. to know / does it matter / to the soul?” Apart from the strengths and weaknesses of the individual poems, the collection as a whole feels less original as it progresses. There is, for example, a mysterious “she” who appears throughout, in lines such as “I knew her once / but now she is just / smoke & wind” and “her mouth / contained all / the secrets.” After several such similar mentions, lines like those cease to feel meaningful, and the collection loses a sense of momentum or progress. In both the micropoetry section and the handful of longer poems that follow it, the inclusion of translations—most of early Chinese poetry—is a further confusion. Though impressive, they feel out of place next to Watson’s own very different style, and their attributions are often murky, with some citations including no more detail than “Translated from an anonymous Chinese poem in the Shijing.” Still, despite the collection’s flaws, many of Watson’s poems offer nuanced explorations of love and uncertainty, and they’ll be especially compelling to those intrigued by the author’s experimentation with formal limitations.
A grab bag of musings containing its share of gems but hindered by a lack of cohesion.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1939832023
Page Count: 292
Publisher: Plum White Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Slight poems with flashes of splendor but lacking real power.
This slim volume of poems explores the writer’s experience, using images and themes from nature.
Like the hawk on a wire in the titular poem, novice author Butler closely observes the natural world around her, often relating it to her own life. Having lived on farms in California and Oregon, as well as aboard a sailboat, Butler can draw upon an array of experiences. Several poems relate to cultivating gardens. “On My Farm” describes a tractor going through rows of lettuce, “the earth incumbent with nutrient.” In “Drops of Red,” one of the book’s more successful poems, the poet’s father is “driving the dusty green combine….The dust smells of toasted flour.” Such images are specific yet surprising: “incumbent” feels just right for moist, rich earth; “toasted” conveys the smell and feel of a hot day spent harvesting wheat. In “Traffic Dancing,” one of the few urban poems, Butler succinctly conjures the choreography of traffic: “a cotillion reel at an intersection.” In other poems, however, Butler’s metaphors are weak. The force of a metaphor comes from the surprising magnetism between two dissimilar things, but in “Honey Bees,” she compares clover honey to golden molasses—similar commodities—and then to tupelo honey, another comparable product. In “Bootjack,” she describes her favorite riding boots: “those boots are like / a second skin / protecting tender toes.” But there’s no “like” about it. Several poems have an intriguing sense of mystery, especially “Forgotten Moon,” in which an old couple sits in silence in a mountaintop house: “There is a footprint in that bog of red flowered thorns. / He’s forgotten her name but it will come / when the golden boat sinks into the sea.” The ghostly footprint leaves a haunting impression. Other poems are more puzzling than mysterious. “Traversing the Peninsula,” for instance, describes walking across the sand, where “The cold wrapped my ankles…anchoring me there.” How can she be traveling yet anchored? At times, Butler doesn’t seem to mind her words closely enough. The unsuccessful poems here simply present an image or situation, without closing the loop—there’s no tock for the opening tick. “Windswept,” for example, presents a rising autumn moon and the twilight air, then ends; “A Walk at Sunrise” describes just that, no more. Poems like these seem content at being pretty postcards.
Slight poems with flashes of splendor but lacking real power.Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1434914484
Page Count: 46
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Realistic, multifaceted characters make for an especially engaging novel.
This gripping historical romance set at the dawn of the civil rights movement examines the personal and political repercussions of an illicit love affair between a black servant and a politically ambitious white man.
The chemistry between Ash Kroth, a talented, charismatic law student, and Catherine Wilkes, his family’s new servant for the summer and a student at the local Negro university, is obvious from the moment they meet. The Kroths have employed Catherine’s family for years and have treated them with respect and dignity despite the politically volatile climate and the racist speeches Ash’s father writes as the chief speechwriter for the governor of an unnamed Southern state. Ash and Catherine can only resist each other for so long until they begin their torrid love affair, which lasts until Catherine winds up pregnant and tragedy ensues. As years go by, Ash achieves his political goals. While trying to contain the chaos brought to his state by the civil rights movement, he attempts to reconcile both his past with Catherine and the family life they could have had. He also must keep a firm grip on his own children. McKenzie’s characters are complex, and their relationships with each other are fascinating. Ash, in particular, is intriguingly ambivalent: He has a weak constitution for conflict within his own family, yet he’s a powerful politician; he’s a segregationist determined to keep the state separate but equal, yet he felt Catherine was his soul mate. The only drawback to this fast-paced, suspenseful novel is the slightly rushed conclusion; the loose ends are wrapped up a bit too neatly for such dynamic characters. Nonetheless, McKenzie proves herself to be an effortless storyteller who sympathetically portrays the ironies and hypocrisies of those precarious times.
Realistic, multifaceted characters make for an especially engaging novel.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-1466473003
Page Count: 370
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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