EILEEN TABIOS Engages
Abandoned Angel: New Poems by Burt Kimmelman
(Marsh Hawk Press, New York, 2016)
Perhaps this is the first poetry
collection about which I can say that its reading experience leaves me in
peace. I read the book the first time in one sitting, chronologically, and for
that time was taken away from the freneticism of my day. I ended the book
refreshed, rested. The effect came
from such lovely images of stillness, like this:
Sandy’s Basho in America
—after reading Sander Zulauf’s haikus
Modest and true words,
they are more than the poet—
wet stone in moonlight.
The poetry’s moments are so pure,
seemingly simple but resonant
Late Morning
—Susan Bee’s Garden of Delights
Sky and road—
sun, cloud and trees—
we hold hands.
I wonder if the middle stanza of “The
Luxury of Time” works as an ars poetica for (much of) the collection—
Why imitate the sun
when earth’s white ceramic
pastures lay there before
them—idyls with satyrs
at rest—or a flower
exquisitely jeweled.
—for it seems to me that so much of the
effectiveness of Kimmelman’s poetry rests on his exceedingly fine powers of
observation. Yet I don't mean to say the quality in his poems are merely of observance; the eyes of his poems also seem very attuned to what's sighted.
I’ve long enjoyed Kimmelman’s poetry—he got
me at the first poem I read and following his work for the subsequent years has been a blessing. I find my admiration interesting as his is the
type of poetry so far from my maximalist tendencies. But I find myself
susceptible to his poems’ brevity and balance—quite often, they articulate
light. Light, at least based on my
practice and my read of others, is not easy to capture through words. Here’s
one:
Early November Light
Maplewood,
New Jersey
Red leaves
the start
of light
squirrels
tumble
over
the limbs
of trees
leap to
wires
along
the street—
how not
to be
still.
Did I say light? But he also captures so
well the dark!—e.g., “we / eat the night’s stars” from “Commute”—as he should
for one surely cannot exist without the other.
At this point, I’d say Burt Kimmelman—who’s
published 17 books of poetry and criticism—is writing at the top of his game. I
suggest reading everything he releases to the world. I leave you with the ending
of “The World at Dawn,” a poem that left me on the brink of tears:
…The word
world is so
important
for poets—
some knew it
was a word.
Stevens, Bronk
and Oppen,
Creeley are
all gone. They
thought about
words. They knew
how very
desperate
words are. Their
words are mine.
I lie still
and I say
that the world,
its light, is
out “there,” and
I want it.
Eileen Tabios does not let her books be reviewed by Galatea Resurrects because she's its editor (the exception would be books that focus on other poets as well). She is pleased, though, to point you elsewhere to recent reviews of her work: THE CONNOISSEUR OF ALLEYS was reviewed by Joey Madia for New Mystics Reviews, Book Masons and Literary Aficionado; and EXCAVATING THE FILIPINO IN ME was reviewed by Aileen Ibardaloza for "Filipina American Literature: Reading Recommendations" (Barbara Jane Reyes Blog). She released three books and two chaps in 2016, and is scheduled to release at least three publications in 2017. More info at http://eileenrtabios.com
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