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jimmylorunning's review
4.0
I read this because I love Brenda Hillman and a friend told me CD Wright had some poems/essays in here about her. I've read some of Wright's poetry before, including her famous Deepstep Come Shining. She was a deep and complicated thinker and tinkerer with words, as this collection makes clear. Her empathetic voice carries this book, which is poetry about the writing of poetry. Poets often write about poetry, but in veiled ways. I appreciate that CD Wright does not veil her way into this, she just goes right at it, unapologetically. We are treated to her unique way of seeing things, her personal quirks and affectations with language are the joy and charm of these pieces, where she openly gushes about Robert Creeley, Jean Valentine, WC Williams, Brenda Hillman, Arthur Sze, and others. To me, poetry should be personal, should be slightly illogical, and so theories about poetry, about the writing of poetry and its place in this world, should also be personal and quirky and without a clear logic, only the human element of it should show through. We should write less manifestos and more odes. Wright believes in poetry, in the power of poetry to effect change, and her faith in poetry is probably what keeps this collection going. It's what makes it interesting to read. I am also a poet, but my faith keeps wavering and faltering. I doubt that it makes a difference. I think that if I write a poem, only other poets will read it. My negativity automatically imagines a circle of poets convincing each other of some obscure point, whereas the wider world is unaffected. Wright was not plagued by these doubts, and I wish she could teach me her ways. Her faith is a self fulfilling prophecy. Because she's not riddled by these thoughts, her poetry is able to soar without that kind of self consciousness, without that apologetic air which always rides the tail of every word I write. I did not plan this review out, I just wrote it kind of as it came word for word, so sorry if this was a total mess of a ramble. (there I am apologizing again)
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