Reprinted from Washington Independent Review of Books, Poetry Reviews, June 23, 2017
June 2017 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
A monthly feature that looks at books of and about poetry.
The Best Poetry to Begin SUMMER
The Half-Finished Heaven, Selected Poems by Tomas Tranströmer, translated from the Swedish by Robert Bly. Graywolf Press. 118 pages.
Scribbled in the Dark by Charles Simic. Ecco. 72 pages.
Miss August by Nin Andrews. Cavankerry Press. 105 pages (with a kick-ass writer’s note at the end).
Resurrection Biology by Laura Orem. Finishing Line Press. 56 pages.
Inside Outside by Sue Silver. New Academia Press. 52 pages.
Waging Beauty: As the Polar Bear Dreams of Ice by Daniela Gioseffi. Poets Wear Prada. 38 pages.
Getting Ready to Travel by Llewellyn McKernan. Finishing Line Press. 33 pages.
Just Universes by Diana Smith Bolton. L+S Press. 31 pages.
The Apollonia Poems by Judith Vollmer. The University of Wisconsin Press. 88 pages.
Plus: Best Anthology, and Seven Other Books of Poems on June’s Best-of List.
+++++++++++++++++
Waging Beauty: As the Polar Bear Dreams of Ice by Daniela Gioseffi. Poets Wear Prada. 38 pages.
Gioseffi was marching, protesting, fighting and writing ever since
people were painting pickets. She’s always used her ability to activate
and stimulate. This book is no disappointment in her long canon of work.
People need their history and Gioseffi has dedicated her life to making
that an honorable one. More than ever, she shows that political writing
is lyrical, imagistic and vulnerable. Far from the rant attributed to
words that want to make change
. “Big Hearted, Witty, and Wide Eyed”
ends, “paint, sing, taste everything lawfully possible, / and help save
the kids from Climate Crisis, / because you still have some hours left.”
The poem “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” credits its
folkloric origins in a high-flying poem that pierces the facade of a Pop
Culture that kills instead of cultivates. In a standout stanza
, “
Where have all the young girls — young boys — /
gone? / In uniform / everyone?” Gioseffi proves her emotional connection to the future, in poetic structure, from a lifetime of good writing.
