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.

Wednesday 21 February 2018

"Words Between Earth and Water" by Simon Perchik (2003)

Poems from Iowa Review, Northwest Review, Shearsman, etc

It's all in triplets, salimi-sliced, working with a restricted palette of words. Here are the page.line locations of some phrases -

  • the way - 1.3, 2.2, 3.4, 4.4, 6.2, 7.2, 8.4, 10.6, 11.2, 12.2, 13.5, 14.10, 15.1, 16.3, 17.8, 18.13, 20.4, 21.4, 22.8
  • as if - 1.1, 3.17, 4.1, 6.10, 7.1, 8.8, 10.2, 16.15, 17.11, 21.2, 23.12
  • though - 3.3, 4.11, 5.3, 6.6, 7.7, 8.14, 10.13, 11.4, 12.1, 12.17, 13.9, 14.1, 14.4, 15.4, 17.14, 21.8, 22.1, 23.4, 24.8

I could almost believe that the lines were randomly dealt out between the poems. Here are some samples -

  • though what rises from the ground
    is lifeless, sets out on the weaker side
    as shadow, a shell kept empty for calm

    for leaf by blinding leaf and this smoke
    half there, half anchored against the rake
    left to rust, no longer struggling
    (p.7)
  • Each with a fence the darkness
    never heals, comes and goes
    the way each star circles this gate

    reclaims the Earth with a chain
    half one by one, half
    where all the dead clasp hands
    (p.16)
  • it's your usual match, half wood
    half some mountainside
    breathing again and rock by rock

    rescued by the simple flame
    that looms over you as smoke
    broken open for rain and falling back
    (p.19)

1 comment:

  1. Dear Tim

    In my experience, poets called Simon tend to be pretty good. There's Simon Armitage, Simon Barraclough and several others.

    Best wishes from Simon R Gladdish

    ReplyDelete