IN VITRO

An exceedingly unique compendium of brief, formal poems by a talented poet.

A fair number of Jamieson’s “new short rhyming poems,” many of which are strangely compelling, engage the cosmological speculation of Zecharia Sitchin. In a book called The Twelfth Planet, Sitchin pioneered the view that humanity began with a race of ancient astronauts visiting Earth from a planet from Nibiru. Sitchin is just one of the eccentric thinkers that Jamieson engages in this sundry collection whose entries focus on a wide variety of topics, from romance to cairns (ancient piles of stones often used to commemorate the dead), from family relationships to the neocortex (a part of the mammalian brain). However, it is not the reader’s job to critique Jamieson’s sources or his mythologies–outlandish though they may seem–but his poetry. The latter is often very good indeed. At his best, Jamieson resembles a modern-day G.M. Hopkins, frequently using end-rhyme in the subtlest ways and letting the natural rhythm of language–and not the forced cadence of poor verse–move readers smoothly from line to line. This is evidenced in the beautifully complex sonnet “Calling me home”–“In fragrant morning air, I spot bold hart / outside my window locking splendid racks. / Vermillion hills hoist sun behind their backs / cajoling sky’s zodiacal light, ‘Depart.’ ” Elsewhere, he’s too clever by half, as in “Persimmons, Pseudopods and Such” when he matches “odd” with the unforgivable “faux pased.” But overall, In Vitro features more delight than pretense. With this new collection of short poetry, Jamieson gives readers a veritable Gordian knot of words–it’s their pleasure to attempt unraveling it, even if they should fail.

Challenging poetry that’s well worth the effort.