Without a doubt, poetry is one of the most mangled
and misunderstood forms of written expression. Whether with great intent or
lack of thought, we are taught from a young age that poetry is rhyme. But in truth, poetry is a complex
jumble of imagery, syntax, diction, rhythm, sound, metaphor, and theme. Even
with its signature compressed and condensed form, poetry manages to convey a
wide range of emotions and ideas to each and every reader. The use of devices
such as assonance and repetition even allow some poems to achieve a near musical cadence. Regardless of what is and isn’t in any given poem, the careful
layering of some-to-all of these effects generates what effectively becomes
that poem’s meaning.
Super! Great! Fantastic!
But how does the
average reader determine whether a poem is good, bad, or ugly? Heck, how does
the above average reader determine whether a poem is strong and successful, or
weak, clichéd, and broken? And perhaps most pressing of all, how does a twitchy
little reviewer determine if a book of poems reaches near mythical levels of
greatness, or plummets into the darkest depths of seriously major suckage?
That, my friends, is the hundred thousand
dollar question . . . .
Book: Attar: A Bouquet for You
Author: Rrrose Carbinela
Publisher: Regal Crest Enterprises
Poet Rrrose Carbinela’s collection, Attar: A Bouquet for You takes the
reader on a thirty-year journey through one woman’s life, full-to-brimming with
ecstasy, agony, life, death, and a few fleeting moments of whimsy. The poems
that form this collection each take on a different emotion, and tell stories
that form a well-lived life. The reader is offered small bites of first love
and heartbreak, thunderstorms and desert skies, rants and meditations, Goddesses
and vulnerability. A few poems are sweet and sensuous, while others are dark
and edgy—a small handful even trickle slowly into the murky waters of anger,
fear, war, and the loss of one nation’s collective innocence.
From a technical perspective, Ms. Carbinela’s
descriptions are active and original, showing far more than they tell. And, while
there was an abundance of end rhyme throughout the collection, several of the
poems used unexpected and interesting rhyme schemes and clever line breaks to
great effect. The simplicity of
presentation in many of the poems is appealing because it allows the statements
to speak for themselves. For example, in “Initiation” the author’s solemn vow
is offered up to any higher power that will listen:
And I am ready, I think.
And I am able, I know,
with your help,
and your guidance,
and your blessings,
To follow the path you will lead me on,
to serve,
to heal,
to bring good to those around me.
Beyond the collection of poetry, two special elements
stand out in Attar: A Bouquet for You:
First, while not unique, the author includes “Poet’s Notes” after the final
poem. These charming little explanations offer a peek inside the poet’s mind,
and allow for further insight and understanding into the inspiration and inner
workings of each poem. And, since poetry is not an exact science, it was
interesting to read the notes, and then compare the backstory to the imagery
presented within each poem. And,
second, while the cover design is quite lovely and apropos to the content, the
publisher’s choice to go with a matte cover versus a glossy cover was truly
inspired—the muted colors soften the brightness of the red roses, and the matte
texture simulates the feel of rose petals, both giving the reader a surprising
and enhanced sensory experience.
Some lovers of poetry are drawn to the
saccharin of sonnets, and others to the edge of rhythmic despair, and this
collection manages to cover most of the real estate in between—sometimes
offering direct experience, sometimes not, drawing on love, life, loss,
history, and myth, Attar: A Bouquet for
You is clearly a product distilled from the author’s most essential
emotions and experiences.
Zine: The Queer Quartets and Other Poems
Author: Helena Kaminski
Publisher: House Hippo Press
Canadian author Helena Kaminski is largely
unknown to traditional readers of lesbian genre poetry. While she writes on a
broad range of feminist matters, her works have been accepted by the Gay and Lesbian Review, Worldwide, and
the Gramsci Monument, a public arts project
in NYC. She has been published in The
Paris Review, New Directions, and AGNI,
and studied with renowned poet, Thom Gunn of The Movement.
The West End. Bitterly cold out.
Everyone stamping their so-called boots.
Clockwise, it’s the fag end of Saturday.
Counter-clockwise it’s Sunday.
All the clubbers are screaming something from the B side of
speech,
When the brain cannot quite manage words.
Three women (good guess they’re gay),
Are taking the air, and it’s taking them ages.
For every breath they take in, they need a breather.
It’s that cold.
And so begins “I” from her most recent
release, The Queer Quartets and Other Poems, a chapbook-style zine of queer
feminist poetry published by the upstart House Hippo Press. This edgy and
erotic collection features the “Queer Quartets, I-V,” and three other poems.
Kaminski’s poetry is raw and passionate, full
of rhythm, imagery, and metaphor. Her voice is not just active, but aggressive,
and her poems feature variable sentence structures, lively line breaks, and
original rhyme. For example, in “III”, she uses her poetic style to balance the
edge with the erotic, the cool with the contentious, and the stark with the sensuous.
They might have shared some
weed, a drink and dance,
Topped up with a no-frills
fuck.
What they haven’t done is
click.
Standing there nursing her
full-fat coke, super-sober
Where everyone’s high,
drunk and
Off-duty,
Ms Tall’s on patrol.
The cheesy great strobe
light
Parceling out its diffused
used psychedelics
To every last inch of a
dance-floor and
Stage that flit unafraid
between retro and techno
Tonight they all work for
Ms Tall, on the house.
Slave accessories helping
her play
I am an enigma
You’ll never break
But, heh, you go ahead,
try.
Feminist writers come in many sizes, shapes,
and packages, and Ms. Kaminski’s cadence, funk, verve, and experimental style
bring to mind Post-Beat writer Anne Waldman, whose technique highlights the
intersection of poetry, performance, activism, and feminism. The Queer Quartets and Other Poems isn’t
traditional lesbian genre poetry, but it tells a familiar tale in a way that is
not just compelling but enticing. These poems are loaded with heavy rhythm,
improvisation, free association, rich poetic phrases, clever word play, and their
own special slang—they border on the aggressive and “in your face,” and they make
you want just a little more. I appreciate the look, the sound, and the vibe of Helena
Kaminski’s poetry, and if there is one complaint of the collection, it’s simply
that it wasn’t longer.
***
William Carlos Williams of The Red Wheelbarrow fame once said, “But
all art is sensual and poetry particularly so. It is directly, that is, of the
senses, and since the senses do not exist without an object for their
employment all art is necessarily objective. It doesn’t declaim or explain, it
presents.”
I love two things about his statement: First,
it proves that he was a better poet than he was a philosopher. And, second,
that appreciation of poetry—all poetry—good, bad, or ugly, belongs only to the
reader.
It’s true with any form of
writing, but never more so than with poetry.
