Poetry Magazine October 2020 by Don Share

Poetry Magazine October 2020 Reviews

• 
  Charles Mitchell

  Includes a great article about aphasia in poetry.
• 
  Mitchell Whitney

  As others have noted, Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes' essay at the end, "Impossible Word: Toward a Poetics of Aphasia," make this a worthwhile purchase regardless of anything else in this edition of Poetry. If I were a poetry/fiction/literature/creative writing/whatever professor, I would teach this. Dense for sure, but articulate as language allows. I found this essay illuminating in so many ways - not only about poetry and the power of syntax, but the human mind, illness, and the linguistic disorientation that Black Americans experience. Eye-opening, powerful, inspiring essay.
  
  Beyond this essay, I thought the poetry selections were, for the most part, excellent.
  A couple duds, but that's to be expected I suppose.
  
  Notable poets/poems:
  
  The Doors of Perception by
  Jennifer Jean
  - On her father's experience of being a brown fan of The Doors. Break on through.
  
  The Old Masters by
  John Burnside
  - The opening and closing are...masterful.
  
  "About suffering, they knew no more of less
  Than we do..."
  
  "a headlong and unmasterable now
  that slips away, one pier at a time."
  
  Green Shield by
  Drew Milne
  - Sweet little poem about lichen not giving a shite about human folly.
  
  "Lichen, you are wise
  not to play some human
  tune, and then crumble.
  
  As if there were nothing
  but property ladders."
  
  Dear Life by
  Maya C Popa
  - on how we're always getting caught in our own fishing lines, on our own hooks, how we reel ourselves in, and how we deserve our own forgiveness.
  
  Hear Me, Hart Crane by
  Orlando Ricardo Menes
  - as a restless someone who flits between cold and tropical climates, I felt this:
  
  "Gazing out the window each winter morning
  to tropicalize snowbanks into coral cays"
  
  Apology by
  Christine Gosnay
  - Very cool "attitude poem." I also recently read her poem, "Listening to Townes Van Zandt," which is beautiful and multi-layered. Would like to read more of her work.
  
  Both of the poems by
  José Hernández Díaz
  - Simple and sweet and culturally potent. Really want to get my hands on The Fire Eater: Poems after having read "The Jaguar and the Mango" on the Poetry Foundation's website.
  
  Burke's Goddess by
  Martin Dyar
  - Reminds me of a more pastoral, formal Stephen Dobyns in its compelling emotional complexity.
  
  Both poems by
  John Lee Clark
  - Very odd and very human. Humans are real weird, ya know? I particularly liked the poem "A Funeral" and how these seemingly mundane requests - "...Tricia, will you / bring your tasty taco salad?" or "...JoJo, don't you / just buy a pie..." - stack upon themselves to create this eerie and powerful web of connections.
  
  Another Shooting; The Pretty Papers Section; & Party Sonnets by
  Ed Roberson
  - Unrelenting poems on racism, rotten political circus, murder. And the beauty that somehow manages to coexist with it all. Thank you for these unflinching poems, Mr. Roberson.
• 
  Erick Mertz

  Another excellent issue of Poetry Magazine. In this issue, I thought the following poems/poets were excellent and worthy of further exploration:
  
  Cathy Song "In The Clouds, Volcano"
  Mairead Small Staid "In Defense Of A Long Engagement"
  Nathan Spoon "Abraham Lake" and "Be Monster"
  Adrienne Su "On The Recommendation That American Adults Consume No More Than One-Quarter Cup of Rice, Twice A Week"
  Jennifer Jean "The Doors Of Perception"
• 
  John Caleb Grenn

  There is an essay on “aphasia” at the end that is captivating and timeless. Find a copy of this for that if not the rest.
• 
  J.Istsfor Manity

  Enjoyed the poems of Nathan Spoon, Adrienne Su, Katie Hartsock, and Nikki Wallschlaeger, et al.