writersrelief's review
5.0
This book of poems is inspired by the deployment of Fenton’s husband, an army medic, to Iraq. The poems sweep across the experience from different perspectives: her day-to-day life without him, waiting for him to return to her, his tenure and experiences in Iraq imagined by her, the juxtaposition of their experiences, and his eventual return. As individuals, her poems are breathtaking snapshots. As a collection, they have this dramatic and cohesive narrative arc that I usually don’t notice in books of poetry.
From the introduction, when Fenton points out the definition of “clamor,” which paradoxically means both noise and silence, we appreciate Fenton’s infatuation with words and their endless meanings as she goes on to dissect and explore terms like ‘corkscrew landing’ and ‘friendly fire’ in unforgettable ways. She is an observer of the world in the most intimate way. Her word choices are exquisite, striking, and powerful. Her poems have this immediacy that somehow physically moves you to places you’ve never been and feelings you’ve never experienced.
All you want to do when you read Fenton’s poetry is speak the words aloud so that you can connect with them, experience them yourself, feel the sound on your tongue, the images that come to life with your voice. Try it yourself:
“And at the end
of the longest sentence I’ve ever known
your face in the window’s fogged aperture
stranded noun.
Rorschach of stars.
Beautiful thing”
“…By the time you arrived
there were already hands fluttering white flags of gauze
against the ruptured scaffolding of ribs, the glistening skull, and no skin
left untended…”
From the introduction, when Fenton points out the definition of “clamor,” which paradoxically means both noise and silence, we appreciate Fenton’s infatuation with words and their endless meanings as she goes on to dissect and explore terms like ‘corkscrew landing’ and ‘friendly fire’ in unforgettable ways. She is an observer of the world in the most intimate way. Her word choices are exquisite, striking, and powerful. Her poems have this immediacy that somehow physically moves you to places you’ve never been and feelings you’ve never experienced.
All you want to do when you read Fenton’s poetry is speak the words aloud so that you can connect with them, experience them yourself, feel the sound on your tongue, the images that come to life with your voice. Try it yourself:
“And at the end
of the longest sentence I’ve ever known
your face in the window’s fogged aperture
stranded noun.
Rorschach of stars.
Beautiful thing”
“…By the time you arrived
there were already hands fluttering white flags of gauze
against the ruptured scaffolding of ribs, the glistening skull, and no skin
left untended…”
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