Open Shutters: Poems
Openness and transparency take many forms in this lucid collection. A woman looks through an unshuttered window and watches a wary hare succumb to the sensuous spell of the grass' sweet fragrance. Old photographs are portals to the past; an ultrasound provides a glimpse into the future. The pages of books and newspapers open to reveal new worlds, and hands open, too, in gestures of giving and receiving. Once again Salter, whose last collection was the radiantA Kiss in Space(1999), performs with deep pleasure and arresting artistry the paired arts of avid observation and the transformation of hectic experience into crystalline images, golden threads of narrative, and startling extrapolations. In poems such as "The Accordionist," in which a gypsy boy boards a Metro train to serenade stoic passengers, and "TWA 800," in which a postcard survives a deadly plane crash, Salter's moves are so precise and gravity-defying, so astonishingly eloquent, the exhilarated reader feels as though she's watching a gymnast perform intricate, risky, and unpredictable sequences, nailing each one perfectly.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved