Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Saturday, 22 November 2014

"Chick" by Hannah Lowe (Bloodaxe, 2013)

Poems from Magma, Poetry Review, Rialto, The Spectator, Stand, etc. There are at least 3 poems in terza rima, 4 sonnets, a sestina, and a poem in rhyming couplets. I didn't see much in the first 4 poems - Next Gen? Really? I kept reading. It wasn't until p.29 "Fathers Are Dancing with Their Sons" that I saw something beyond the ordinary. Then, on p.33 another poem I liked, though the ending ("On her bicep, a dollar sign. I lick my thumb and rub it. She laughs when it smudges.") is rather spoilt by the title, "Ink". I like p.39 ("The Water Holds It All"), p.42 ("Johnny"), and p.44 ("Letter to William") too. p.60 is a prose-format monolog which is pretty good. But p.28, p.48, p.51, p.55, p.62 let the show down.

So I'd guess there's something about the poems in the middle of the book that appeal to me, and the rest fall under my blind-spot.

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