jeffhall's review
4.0
Rob Carney is one of my favorite contemporary American poets, and while I didn't respond as strongly to Call and Response as I did to some of his previous collections, there is still great stuff to be found in these pages.
More than anything else, I appreciate Carney's talent for simplicity and directness of expression, as in this line from "In the Beginning Was a River":
That soul-blown sound of a train at night - part love, part loss, and part Coltrane - couldn't be more human, with the human right to quiet, so that everyone who needs to hear can hear.
Carney's poetry always has a strong connection to the natural world, and his avoidance of conceptual obscurity allows for wonderful clarity in tackling subjects drawn from nature, as in "Open 24 Hours":
Our moon wasn't born
to look down at neon skies.
"Do you believe in ESP?" is another of my favorite poems from Call and Response, and in general it's a great collection, if not necessarily Carney's finest work to date.
More than anything else, I appreciate Carney's talent for simplicity and directness of expression, as in this line from "In the Beginning Was a River":
That soul-blown sound of a train at night - part love, part loss, and part Coltrane - couldn't be more human, with the human right to quiet, so that everyone who needs to hear can hear.
Carney's poetry always has a strong connection to the natural world, and his avoidance of conceptual obscurity allows for wonderful clarity in tackling subjects drawn from nature, as in "Open 24 Hours":
Our moon wasn't born
to look down at neon skies.
"Do you believe in ESP?" is another of my favorite poems from Call and Response, and in general it's a great collection, if not necessarily Carney's finest work to date.
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