Map Of The Folded World (Akron Series in Poetry)
Readers of this third collection by Gallaher (The Little Book of Guesses) will recognize a few tricks learned from John Ashbery—a multiplicity of chatty voices echoing within the same poem, slightly grouchy associative leaping down the page—but Gallaher does not stop there. I told as much of the truth as I could imagine, opens one poem. The same poem ends, And we all shared one thought./ One crowded thought. Within that framework—a world as vast and or limited as an observer's imagination, and minds that every so often happen to understand each other—Gallaher's whimsical and empathic poems unfold. The subjects of these poems are stalked by their fantasies (A film crew will follow you, they promise. And a little/ dog) and face the inevitable with a bit of a grin (All the old people left and then we were the old people). Throughout, these lines are filled with pleasure and wisdom.(Aug.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.