Poetry Reading Response

Having read Lost Alphabet, I had already learned much from Olstein’s work, particularly her ability to marry image or sound with an idea in a way that transcends the ordinary thrust of meaning.  That, of course, and her sly use of symbolism and mastery of metaphor.  Upon listening to her read, however, I was struck more by her insight.  Her perceptions are balanced by a humble, observant voice, so that they do not leap from the prose, didactically, but are woven into the poem as in Space Junk: nothing likes to be abandoned/no one likes to be compared.”  She is similarly intuitive in You Can Tell a Tiger by its Stripes: “sometimes picking things up and putting them down is enough.”  In Different Animals, “we are beakers emptied and refilled.”  I was surprised that, unlike Daniel, she does not write about her child.  I would think it would be difficult to divorce one’s art from the experience of motherhood.  Even the self-consumed and suffering Sylvia Plath wrote Child.  As always, I am fascinated by the poet who writes in some refuge of isolation: Olstein states that it is important to “get away” and often stays alone in the house of a friend to write.

It seemed fitting to me that David Daniel penned a poem entitled Rock and Roll, as he seems to be a bit of a rock star himself.  His love for the punk rock band X and The Replacements (an Irish band that used to refer to themselves as “the niggers of Europe”) gives us an idea of what he’s all about.  I enjoyed his anecdotal stories and the seeming simplicity of his poetic voice held a profound potency.  I was riveted by and would love to emulate his ability to make a poem build and soar.  At times I found his use of repetition to be effective, at others, it seemed distracting and dramatic.  The nostalgic, emotional implications that evolve out of the exquisite detailing of Ornaments is palpable.  I would like to be able to weave description and meaning and emotion in this intricate way.  I most admired the primitive description of The Earth where “you dig and you wait in the dark heart of earth.”