Diverting and delightful verse.
In this debut collection, an author reminds readers that poetry can be fun.
Certainly, Eacker’s tongue is planted firmly in his cheek when he calls his writing “bad poetry.” And as audiences read along, it becomes clear that by “bad poetry” he means light verse—simple, comic pieces whose levity often belie their complexity and nuance. As such, his most obvious forefather is Ogden Nash, the master of droll doggerel whose oeuvre includes the classic “Reflections on Ice-Breaking”: “Candy / Is dandy. / But liquor / Is quicker.” Like Nash, Eacker isn’t interested in provoking deep reflections; a light chuckle is the more obvious goal. To wit, here are stanzas from “The Hunters,” about a pair of robins: “It was clear / That they were mated / But not that they / Were twitter-pated. / (They did not / Engage in woo / By way of / Bill-and-coo).” The wordplay—or bird-play—is subtle and ultimately satisfying. But it should not cause readers to miss the fact that “Hunters” is also a finely observed nature poem about the local fauna. Indeed, many of Eacker’s offerings try to reveal the oft-ignored beauty of the natural world, and he devotes dozens of stanzas to the trees, animals, and insects with which he shares his small corner of the planet. Accordingly, here are bits from “Blue Spruce”: “No, this tree / Has a special hue / And that special hue is blue, / Which may be / Some sort of clue. / We planted it / When we first moved in. / That’s how long ago / It’s been / … / Who could have known / It would grow so tall / Starting out / As just a ball?” For some, the simplicity of Eacker’s writing will seem a defect; how hard is it to rhyme “tall” and “ball” or “tree” and “be”? In other words, fans of T.S. Eliot should look elsewhere. But for those seeking less demanding pleasures from their poetry, this volume is sure to amuse.
Diverting and delightful verse.Pub Date: March 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5320-1520-5
Page Count: 104
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Poetry that excites and mystifies in all the best ways.
Goldberg pulls hard truths from simple tropes in this superb collection of verse.
The late child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim once wrote that “nothing can be as enriching and satisfying for child and adult alike as the folk fairy tale.” Whether or not Goldberg knows of Bettelheim, the spirit of his line infuses her book, as it’s filled with dwarfs, demons, princesses, and queens. And yet this is not kids’ stuff, for Goldberg takes some of the themes of children’s literature and repurposes them to crafting this blade-thin but lightning-powerful exploration of loss, love, and the life of the mind. Although readers will hear in her work echoes of contemporary poets such as Louise Glück and Jorie Graham, more helpful comparisons are to Lewis Carroll and John Bunyan. It’s Carroll, more than anyone else, who teaches readers that child’s play is seldom childish. From Bunyan, Goldberg borrows an allegorical streak; the former author personifies Faith, Hope, and Ignorance in The Pilgrim’s Progress, the latter births characters named Reason, Passion, and Grief in “The Early Childhood of Grief”: “And from the loins of Reason and Passion / springs Grief, a surly, birdlike boy / who refuses to cry. No gurgling, no babbling, / no scattershot foray into the dense / and dissonant world, choosing instead / to stay mute.” Goldberg deploys her poetic tricks—the assonant “surly, birdlike,” the alliteration in “dense and dissonant”—with thrift and subtlety. As an able, award-winning writer, she has no need to flaunt her gifts, and from the outset, readers will know they’re in the hands of an unpretentious master. Additionally, she’s smart and economical in her use of symbols; favorites include the egg and the flowering plant called love-lies-bleeding. Returning to such images over and over again, she’s content to dig deep into their many meanings, reminding readers anew of the old truth that a rose is never just a rose.
Poetry that excites and mystifies in all the best ways.Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-936628-31-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A collection of love poems that never catches fire.
DeShay (Thoughts, Love & Reflection, 2012) returns with another volume of love poetry.
As implied by the title, these are poems of yearning and anticipation, written from the male perspective and concerned with the overpowering effects of love and desire. Poem after poem attempts to express the infatuation and commitment a man feels toward the woman he loves, to match words to actions and actions to emotions. A representative poem begins: “There are times when my imagination consumes / my thoughts and takes me to a very pleasant place; / then there’s where your image transports me with / just a single glance.” The verses also show the other half of the coin as well: DeShay explores at length the complex interactions between men and women, face to face and within society, including ruminations on such unexpected topics as incarceration and voting. Scattered throughout the collection are stock photographs of couples posed romantically along with a few of less optimistic subjects (a pair of hands clutching prison bars, for example). The author also includes, at the bottom of every poem, a speech bubble to invite readers to send their reactions to his work to an email address he provides. The poems are free verse in complete sentences, giving them the appealing quality of dense, miniature essays. Unfortunately, the author generally keeps his language abstract and inexact, rarely allowing readers to hold onto a specific image or physical detail. The resulting verses feel stilted and at odds with the deep emotions they try to express: “You are the focus of my love and my existence / of my direction. I no longer wish to walk alone / but with you by my side. The journey will now / be filled with the purest form of love.” When poems reiterate such familiar ideas outside of a more intimate, immediate context, readers may feel a bit bored. DeShay succeeds in establishing a thoughtful, reflective voice, but it may often fail to hold readers’ interest.
A collection of love poems that never catches fire.Pub Date: May 19, 2015
ISBN: B00ZPTMRPM
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Lulu.com
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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