Not all the verses here produce the same spark, but certainly enough do to warrant a look.
Meditations and observations from a young writer who died much too early.
Two short forewords provide biographical information to contextualize this collection of 46 poems, each less than a page in length. The book divides the verses into seven thematic sections, including “Light,” “Outcries,” and, sadly, “Last Poems.” Gesner passed away at the age of 30 from an unspecified illness that lasted 13 years. Readers will have to determine for themselves whether the circumstances of her life will affect their appreciation of her work. Still, it’s hard to downplay the fact that she also endured the loss of her father when she was only 6 years old. The poem dedicated to him reads in its entirety: “A few sun-drenched mornings / A child’s memory erased / A touch, a gesture, a forgotten face.” The length and schematic nature of the text reflect his fleeting presence in her life as well as her acute sense of loss. There are hits and misses in this volume; overall, though, it has an impressive, undeniable depth of feeling. For instance, “Hands on Thanksgiving Day” presents the breaking of the wishbone as the passing down of tradition to different generations. In it, Gesner compares the rough hands of an older relative and the smooth hands of a youngster to different parts of the turkey—symbolism that’s perhaps a bit obvious but nonetheless powerful. “More Than Clouds and Words” features more hand imagery as it describes a girl “who often fetched water / with blossom-white hands / that shook with pain from the bite / pail handles touch.” Here, the author nicely represents a common physical sensation while also suggesting a burden beyond the literal. In “So Deep a Dark,” she portrays night as a shroud and writes: “The eye will place a period / before the sentence is complete.” This statement could symbolize for readers the loss of Gesner’s talent before it was able to develop more fully. However, she also concludes the poem with a hopeful reminder that morning always comes.
Not all the verses here produce the same spark, but certainly enough do to warrant a look.Pub Date: March 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-615-80306-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Catherine Pratt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Therapeutic, moving verse from a promising new talent.
Keridan’s poetry testifies to the pain of love and loss—and to the possibility of healing in the aftermath.
The literary critic Geoffrey Hartman once wrote that literature—and poetry, in particular—can help us “read the wound” of trauma. That is, it can allow one to express and explain one’s deepest hurts when everyday language fails. Keridan appears to have a similar understanding of poetry. She writes in “Foreword,” the opening work of her debut collection, that “pain frequently uses words as an escape route / (oh, how I know).” Many words—and a great deal of pain—escape in this volume, but the result is healing: “the ending is happy / the beginning was horrific / so let’s start there.” The book, then, tracks the process of recovery in the wake of suffering, and often, this suffering is brought on by romantic relationships gone wrong. An early untitled poem opens, “I die a little / taking pieces of me to feed the fire / that keeps him warm / you don’t notice that it’s a slow death / when you’re disappearing little by little.” The author’s imagery here—of the self fueling the dying fire of love—is simultaneously subtle and wrenching. But the poem’s message, amplified elsewhere in the book, is clear: We go wrong if we destructively give ourselves over to others, and healing comes only when we turn our energies back to our own good. Later poems, therefore, reveal that self-definition often equals strength. The process is painful but salutary; when “you’re left unprotected / surrounded by chaos with nothing you / can depend on / except yourself / and that’s when you gather the pieces / of the life you lost / and use them to build the life you want.” The “life you want” is an elusive goal, and the author knows that the path to self-definition is fraught with peril—but her collection may give strength to those who walk it.
Therapeutic, moving verse from a promising new talent.Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-72770-538-6
Page Count: 196
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Downbeat but often engaging poems and stories.
A slim volume of largely gay-themed writings with pessimistic overtones.
Poe (Simple Simon, 2013, etc.) divides this collection of six short stories and 34 poems into five sections: “Art,” “Death,” “Relationship,” “Being,” and “Reflection.” Significantly, a figurative death at the age of 7 appears in two different poems, in which the author uses the phrase “a pretended life” to refer to the idea of hiding one’s true nature and performing socially enforced gender roles. This is a well-worn trope, but it will be powerful and resonant for many who have struggled with a stigmatized identity. In a similar vein, “Imaginary Tom” presents the remnants of a faded relationship: “Now we are imaginary friends, different in each other’s thoughts, / I the burden you seek to discard, / you the lover I created from the mist of longing.” Once in a while, short story passages practically leap off of the page, such as this evocative description of a seedy establishment in Lincoln, Nebraska: “It was a dimly lit bar that smelled of rodent piss, with barstools that danced on uneven legs and made the patrons wonder if they were drunker than they thought.” In “Valéry’s Ride,” Poe examines the familial duties that often fall to unmarried and childless people, keeping them from forming meaningful bonds with others. In this story, after the double whammy of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hits Louisiana, Valéry’s extended family needs him more than ever; readers will likely root for the gay protagonist as he makes the difficult decision to strike out on his own. Not all of Poe’s main characters are gay; the heterosexual title character in “Mrs. Calumet’s Workspace,” for instance, pursues employment in order to escape the confines of her home and a passionless marriage. Working as a bookkeeper, she attempts to carve out a space for herself, symbolized by changes in her work area. Still, this story echoes the recurring theme of lives unlived due to forces often beyond one’s control.
Downbeat but often engaging poems and stories.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5168-3693-2
Page Count: 120
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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