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.
Showing posts with label Paul Stubbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Stubbs. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 June 2010

"The Icon Maker" by Paul Stubbs (Arc, 2008)

Had I but world enough, and time, I'd read the 90+ pages of poetry here because a skim suggests there are interesting parts. The long and the short of it is that I think I'd have to edit as I go along for it to suit me. Here's the start of the first (4 page) poem

It was just
after the announcement,
      over the tannoy
      that religion had ended,
that I felt
      the overwhelming
      compulsion to depart
      it, heaven.
- And why, still, today,
      in this chair

      I descend.

I don't get the line-breaks, the indentation, or even the punctuation. There are 3 line and 4 line poems too, which I think I prefer.