poetry

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Thumbs up for Lunch Poems by Frank O’Hara. Poetry.

I don’t have any expertise in poetry, so all I can say is “that was wonderfully surreal” and also “I loved it.” These are fairly allusive poems, so a general broad knowledge will help your enjoyment substantially—especially knowing even a bit about New York City. Here are some approachable lines, from “Yesterday Down at the Canal”:

[…] that’s an amusing thought how can anyone be more amusing than oneself how can anyone fail to be can I borrow your forty-five I only need one bullet preferably silver if you can’t be interesting at least you can be a legend (but I hate all that crap)

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Thumbs up for Near the Ocean by Robert Lowell. Poetry.

Reviewing poetry is a tricky thing. Let me begin: the first half of this book is Lowell’s own work; the second half is his translations from Dante, Horace, and Juvenal. I think, when I first dipped in, I sampled the translations, and that was what led me to reading the book.… >> Read more

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Thumbs up for A Book of Uncommon Prayer: 100 Celebrations of the Miracle & Muddle of the Ordinary by Brian Doyle.

Plain-language ecumenical prayers in gratitude for everyday ordinary things. Hard to review, because I think you will either love it or hate it. Test paragraph: the first half of “Prayer for Cashiers and Checkout-Counter Folks”:

Who endure the cold swirls of winter from the sliding doors that are opening and closing every forty seconds; and who endure pomposity and buffoonery and minor madness in their customers; and who gently help the shuffling old lady in the ancient camel coat count out the right change for her load of bread and single sad can of cat food; and cheerfully also disburse stamps and cash along with bagging the groceries and even occasionally carting them out swiftly for the customers they know are frail and wobble; and who must sometimes silently want to scream and shriek in weariness and wondering how it is that they are here for eight hours at a stretch; and who do their jobs with patience and diligence, knowing the price of every single blessed thing in the store;…

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Thumbs up for The Epiplectic Bicycle by Edward Gorey. Poetry.

Marvelous. I love the way the characters appear to be continually in a state of falling over, regardless of whether they actually are or not.

They took a wrong turning and before they knew it, were entering a vast barn;it was too dark to hear anything;it fell down as they came out the other end.

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Thumbs up for Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman. Children’s fantasy.

Dear Mr Gaiman: You had me at the dinosaur professor in a hot air balloon. Multiple time travel paradoxes? I am yours forever.

“You are charged with breaking into people’s planets and redecorating them,” said a noble and imposing-looking Tyrannosaurus Rex. “And then with running away and doing it again somewhere else, over and over.

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Thumbs up for Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings by Shel Silverstein. Children’s poetry.

For some unknown reason I never read Silverstein as a kid; a lack that tends to make people in my cohort gasp in horror and pity, as if I’d said my family ate puppies for dinner. In light of that, I have picked up his books several times over the years and dipped in randomly, but it was my luck to never hit on any of the really good stuff.… >> Read more

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Thumbs up for The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas by Edward Gorey. Poetry.

Well, it’s Edward Gorey. You know who he is, right? Twisted, clever, hilarious, unique? Again, as always.

‘I am the Spectre of Christmas that Never Was,’ it muttered, ‘and I have come to show you Affecting Scenes.’

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