An ambitious poem with a nice environmental message.
A humpback whale leaves the sea for a trip up the Sacramento River, causing a stir among the locals, in this debut book-length poem.
Inspired by the true story of Humphrey, a humpback whale that left San Francisco Bay and swam up the Sacramento River in 1985, Leplin’s poem is a fun and frolicking journey, at least until humans arrive on the scene. Humphrey, a young and innocent whale, follows a salmon one day, curious about her destination. He unwittingly ends up in the river, where other animals, such as ducks, are unable to give him directions back to the bay. Traveling up the river, he befriends and listens to the stories of various creatures, including a raccoon who tells the tale of how he and his cohorts acquired their trademark masks. Humphrey also comes across a heron, frogs, and a wild dog named Ralf, who relates shocking information about science experiments performed on animals. Distressed by the revelations, Humphrey continues until he meets some humans in the flesh. Jake and Steve, two yokels with shotguns and a flask of Wild Turkey, see Humphrey on the news and arrive to shoot him, apparently to prove the superiority of humanity. A young girl named Sooky is also in the area, concerned for the whale’s well-being. As Jake and Steve prepare to aim, Sooky also becomes a target, causing Humphrey to realize “The tragic irony: / The human race was dark and light— / Complete duality.” As Humphrey tries to make a speedy escape, the Coast Guard, the Navy, the media, and a crowd of spectators are waiting near the bay, unsure of whether Humphrey is a friend or foe. Leplin’s sizable work of poetry is enjoyable to read, with a mix of lighthearted and serious tales told in an easily digestible rhyming scheme. Humphrey’s simple inquiries aren’t enough to justify a work of this length, but the action does increase in the second half, after the shooting incident and when the media reports and military activity become a frenzy. Unfortunately, there are a lot of human beings, and the poetry format makes it difficult to adequately describe that many people, organizations, and entities, and their various locations and motives.
An ambitious poem with a nice environmental message.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-105-75797-6
Page Count: 422
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2019
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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