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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I was first introduced to Julia Copus after reading the poem 'An Easy Passage', the Forward Prize winner, in English class. I was enthralled. The clever juxtapositions used in colour and wording to show the difference between the young and old and the act of growing up fascinated as we analysed her poem in depth so when I saw this anthology at my local library, I decided to take it out.
Now, I'm not exactly an avid poem reader, so I don't have much to judge this book by but I truly loved reading these. This book is split into two parts: Durable Features, and Ghost, the latter much shorter than the former. In the first part, my favourite poems were about breakups and the act of growing older. In 'Stars Moving Westwards in a Winter Garden' time is shown to go by as leaves fall, birthdays pass, and the people change. It seems the poet is describing the difficulty of getting through a breakup as time moves so quickly by.
"...You have heard it said
that when we look out into space
we're looking back in time.
Whose time? Our own?
Right now you want this to mean
that the past itself is a kind of canopy
spread out on every side, in bluish black,
that somewhere in the night sky,
is contained,
among the million things happenings
that led you here,
that sudden summer storm,
you sheltered from together, her small hand
too warm..."
The above is a small extract from the poem that I think encapsulates the meaning of the poem, the use of the constant enjambment is something I love (which is used all the way through all of the poems), it helps to tell a story.
As does 'An Easy Passage', the poem I fell in love with, which is also included in the first part of this book. You can read that poem right here (and you should).
The poem that follows right after 'An Easy Passage' is called 'The Silence Between Us' and tells a story where silence is personified to be a body, unmoving and catatonic. The way silence works and hurts a person is gently worded and expressed as the author wills for sound and gently
"lifts one leathery eyelid -
where the soul is crouched"
but there is no answer.
Another of my favourites in the first half is called 'A Soft-edged Reed of Light' which is told where the speaker is left wistfully exploring her memories of a relationship, wishing for more saying she's sad it ended but
"if that same dark-haired boy
were to lean towards me now,
with one shy hand bathed in September sun,
as if to say All things are possible - then why not this?
I'd take it still, praying it might be so."
When the book moves to Part 2: Ghost, it becomes even more storylike, each poem leads onto each other and (i think) should be read all together as a story rather than as seperate poems. They, together, entail the author's experience with IVF using clever metaphors of constellations and leaves to explain the experience from start to finish.
This entire book is fantastic, some poems are better than others but when they're good, they're fantastic. I highly recommend at least reading 'An Easy Passage'.
Now, I'm not exactly an avid poem reader, so I don't have much to judge this book by but I truly loved reading these. This book is split into two parts: Durable Features, and Ghost, the latter much shorter than the former. In the first part, my favourite poems were about breakups and the act of growing older. In 'Stars Moving Westwards in a Winter Garden' time is shown to go by as leaves fall, birthdays pass, and the people change. It seems the poet is describing the difficulty of getting through a breakup as time moves so quickly by.
"...You have heard it said
that when we look out into space
we're looking back in time.
Whose time? Our own?
Right now you want this to mean
that the past itself is a kind of canopy
spread out on every side, in bluish black,
that somewhere in the night sky,
is contained,
among the million things happenings
that led you here,
that sudden summer storm,
you sheltered from together, her small hand
too warm..."
The above is a small extract from the poem that I think encapsulates the meaning of the poem, the use of the constant enjambment is something I love (which is used all the way through all of the poems), it helps to tell a story.
As does 'An Easy Passage', the poem I fell in love with, which is also included in the first part of this book. You can read that poem right here (and you should).
The poem that follows right after 'An Easy Passage' is called 'The Silence Between Us' and tells a story where silence is personified to be a body, unmoving and catatonic. The way silence works and hurts a person is gently worded and expressed as the author wills for sound and gently
"lifts one leathery eyelid -
where the soul is crouched"
but there is no answer.
Another of my favourites in the first half is called 'A Soft-edged Reed of Light' which is told where the speaker is left wistfully exploring her memories of a relationship, wishing for more saying she's sad it ended but
"if that same dark-haired boy
were to lean towards me now,
with one shy hand bathed in September sun,
as if to say All things are possible - then why not this?
I'd take it still, praying it might be so."
When the book moves to Part 2: Ghost, it becomes even more storylike, each poem leads onto each other and (i think) should be read all together as a story rather than as seperate poems. They, together, entail the author's experience with IVF using clever metaphors of constellations and leaves to explain the experience from start to finish.
This entire book is fantastic, some poems are better than others but when they're good, they're fantastic. I highly recommend at least reading 'An Easy Passage'.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced