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A review by raoul_g
The Kingdom of Ordinary Time: Poems by Marie Howe
4.0
Marie Howe, in this little collection of poems, writes about ordinary time. Besides the meaning related to the Christian liturgical calendar, ordinary time can also be understood quite literally: A time in which nothing extraordinary happens. No miracles, and a lot of routine. The Prologue captures this beautifully with these hints to some elements of stories from the Gospels :
Howe thus sets forth to describe not the ecstasies of life, but rather its normal monotony. There are poems about Howe going shopping with her daughter or about picking her up from preschool. Sometimes, as in these two poems, there creeps a certain sadness into the daily routine. The sudden realization of the shortness of life ("Where do I want her to hurry to? To her grave? To mine? Where one day she might stand all grown?") or to the death of a friend ("And I said, ok. I feel a little sad. And she said, Tell me the whole thing Mom. And I said, ok Elise died. Elise is dead and the world feels weary and brokenhearted. And she said, Tell me the whole thing Mom.").
Many of the poems touch religious topics, but most do so only very lightly (I don't know how to describe it better). 'Prayer' for example is a pondering about her inability to make time to pray, which in the end turns out to be itself a beautiful prayer. In 'Government' Howe talks about struggling with the many different desires and needs in oneself and how these voices make it almost impossible to think clearly, using the metaphor of an inner kingdom:
Although not all poems were as interesting to me as the ones I mentioned, I still quite enjoyed the collection as a whole and really appreciate Howe's style and the way she weaves feelings like sadness and helplessness in a beautiful way into her poems.
The rules, once again, applied
One loaf = one loaf. One fish = one fish.
The so-called Kings were dead.
And the woman who had been healed grew tired of telling her story,
and sometimes asked her daughter to tell it.
Howe thus sets forth to describe not the ecstasies of life, but rather its normal monotony. There are poems about Howe going shopping with her daughter or about picking her up from preschool. Sometimes, as in these two poems, there creeps a certain sadness into the daily routine. The sudden realization of the shortness of life ("Where do I want her to hurry to? To her grave? To mine? Where one day she might stand all grown?") or to the death of a friend ("And I said, ok. I feel a little sad. And she said, Tell me the whole thing Mom. And I said, ok Elise died. Elise is dead and the world feels weary and brokenhearted. And she said, Tell me the whole thing Mom.").
Many of the poems touch religious topics, but most do so only very lightly (I don't know how to describe it better). 'Prayer' for example is a pondering about her inability to make time to pray, which in the end turns out to be itself a beautiful prayer. In 'Government' Howe talks about struggling with the many different desires and needs in oneself and how these voices make it almost impossible to think clearly, using the metaphor of an inner kingdom:
So many kingdoms,
And in each kingdom, so many people: the disinherited son, the corrupt
counselor,
the courtesan, the fool.
And so many gods—arguing among themselves,
over toast, through the lunch salad
and on into the long hours of the mild spring afternoon— I’m the god.
No I’m the god. No I’m the god.
I can hardly hear myself over their muttering.
How can I discipline my army? They’re exhausted and want more money.
How can I disarm when my enemy seems so intent?
Although not all poems were as interesting to me as the ones I mentioned, I still quite enjoyed the collection as a whole and really appreciate Howe's style and the way she weaves feelings like sadness and helplessness in a beautiful way into her poems.