MIRANDA'S MUSIC

by Jean & Lillian Morrison Boudin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 1968

It's music that she wishes./ She hears it all the time/ So let her dance/ . . .To secret chimes/ . . .Do sarabande/ To chords and thuds/ To exclamations/ From the orange-hatted chorus/ In the subway excavations."" Short lines make these poems look deceptively simple but the thoughts are not, the metrics are wonderfully irregular, and there is fun with typesetting as well. The unconventional divisions (e.g. ""Hi, Mike"") are suitably subtle and the drawings reinforce the usually strong-feminine texture of the poems. Miranda is the mind (rather than the face) in many and Mike has some ideas too; most, however, have the advantage of being everybody. ""If only I had three wishes/ one of them would be not/ to do the dishes/ ""The other two/would be you."" Miranda's opening ""If"" is an example of the quiet mingling of real and romantic that appears in several; somewhat more intricate is Mike's ""Not on the Rocks"": ""Something always the matter with mermaids/ (who cannot walk) and so its talk/ talk talk no ball games no/ swimming no running. Just always sunning/ in a beach chair. But its true/ about their hair."" Each author's poems are identified at the end of the book (six are from last year's Ghost of Jersey City) but they are similar in style and co-exist without friction. It's slim enough for the Peter Pauper crowd, a likely choice for the school literary magazine staff.

Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crowell

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION