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snowmaiden's review against another edition
4.0
All of a sudden, the Carlson-Wee brothers seem to be everywhere I look. When I buy a sample copy of a poetry journal, one of them is almost always in there. When I get a contributor's copy of a journal, one of them is usually in there, too. I got so curious about them that I finally looked them up and found out that, like me, they're North Dakota natives. So when I heard that Anders Carlson-Wee had published a chapbook, I decided I should probably buy a copy.
In form, this is simple, straightforward narrative poetry. The sentences are declarative, and there are very few big words. Yet out of this simplicity, the poet creates very striking images. I say "striking" and not "beautiful" for a reason. This is a very violent, masculine book. Many of the poems are about riding the rails. There are several about fights with varying kinds of weapons. There's even a poem about a dead dog.
The subject matter of this collection wasn't really up my alley, but I must admit that it is finely wrought and would be of interest to many other people I know.
In form, this is simple, straightforward narrative poetry. The sentences are declarative, and there are very few big words. Yet out of this simplicity, the poet creates very striking images. I say "striking" and not "beautiful" for a reason. This is a very violent, masculine book. Many of the poems are about riding the rails. There are several about fights with varying kinds of weapons. There's even a poem about a dead dog.
The subject matter of this collection wasn't really up my alley, but I must admit that it is finely wrought and would be of interest to many other people I know.
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