Poems from The Interpreter's House, The North, The Rialto, etc.
"Morning Song", the first poem, begin with the stanza "There was a frog/ memorized/ under ice". Each line-break precedes a surprise. The 2nd stanza is "and a bird-skull/ there/ on the palm of my hand:". Fewer surprises there. Then in the next stanza, 3 surprising comparisons in a row - "little perched ghost,/ go-between,/ empty tent". Such comparisons need to stretch the reader without baffling them. I suspect different readers will have different breaking points. I like "memorized". I don't get "go-between" though I like"little perched ghost".
A few poems (e.g. "Birthmarks") were short, straightforward, and not too interesting. Most poems had some enviable imagery. "The possibility of snow" begins with "The pages of the snow-fall/ are opening, they flicker/ and the little/ derelict school/ shivers", and "Grief" has "All the palaces of your voice were empty;/ all the labyrinths of your fingerprints".
Other reviews
- Hilary Menos, Nikolai Duffy and Matt Merritt (Edwards' subject matter is various, but he treats it all with the same sure, deft touch (Menos); There’s a restraint and precision about Martin Edwards’ work that’s apparent from the first poem here (Merritt))
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