Review: These poems will transport you!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 25, 2013
The best poems transport you—either to somewhere you want to be or somewhere you long to get back to. The poems in “By the Sea” take you right up to the water’s edge  where (if the weather is right) you can imagine yourself squishing sand between your toes, discovering seashells, and holding on tight to the person you love most in the world.These are, of course, love poems and like the sea and the surrounding environment—love is mercurial. These poems describe love in all of its various permutations—fleeting, tenuous, powerful or strong. In the poem “Love upon the Coastline” love is “deep and grasping” and described as “granular, delicate affections”.  In “I Once had You” love doesn't last and the poem laments a relationship that will never be revived. The poem “The Love Between the Sea and the Sky” describes the love affair between our water and air—only they can fully see each other. All of these different poems about love feel so inevitable and true.I like these poems because they are each their own tiny world, poignant and accessible. The author, Feng Zhou believes that the goal of poetry is to use the least amount of words to create the biggest possible space and I believe he accomplishes that here. These poems are spare but they make a big impact.