Something Bright, Then Holes
Nelson's newest collection continues the genre dodging of her second poetry collection,Jane: A Mystery. Narrative, sentimental and self-indulgent, this third collection risks many possible poetic pitfalls and comes through unscathed through sheer intensity of and commitment to her voice. Over three sections, Nelson employs a consistent narrator, recognizable settings, recurring characters and a few structures closely resembling plots. But it's not fiction. And though each section also has lines, stanzas, and lyric musicality, it's poetry only in a very loose sense. Instead, it's a stunning collection of real-world stories shadowed by the netherworld of poetry: The hippie tells us his dog/ has terrible luck. A week ago/ it fell into a silo; yesterday/ it got electrocuted while peeing/ on a pole. We don't really know/ how to respond. The sky is amazing/tonight, full of blurry swans.(Nov.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.