misspalah's review against another edition
5.0
I would re - read this again. It was so raw, intense and deep. That sticker of 'National book award winner' is on the cover for a reason. My top 3 favorite poems from this book are Dead Reckoning, Fatamorgana and The Hedonist. This is the first book that i read from Yusef Komunyakaa and despite a mixed reviews from his fans who said that this was not his best work, i was totally impressed with it.
scrow1022's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the rhythm of some of these. Some of these are over my head with all the classical allusions, but some I get well enough. And some I love even without "getting" them, just for the swing of them, the scattering of images like crystal refraction, a chandelier twinkling, a sense of the whole but pleasure even in what fragments I can get.
zoemig's review against another edition
Somehow, I hadn't managed to read a single collection of poetry so far into 2012, and with nearly half the year slipped away I had the opportunity to pick up the latest book by Komunyakaa. I hadn't read any of his previous collections, but The Chameleon Couch was nominated for a National Book Award, and the author had previously been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. With credentials like that, my expectations were understandably pretty high.
As soon as I opened the book to the first poem, I was awed by the delicateness of Komunyakaa's words, his soft and sharp contrasting imagery. In that first poem, "Canticle", which remained one of my favourites of the entire collection, he writes:
"Because I mistrust my head & hands, because I know salt
tinctures my songs, I tried hard not to touch you
even as I pulled you into my arms."
The poem itself finishes with these lines:
" I only want to hold you this way: a bundle of wild orchids
broken at the wet seam of memory & manna."
His words are filled with these beautiful images that bring his poems alive, vivid on the page. The collection is divided into three parts, but what they all have in common is their haunting insight into personal moments and the time when everything changes. "Ignis Fatuus" was another poem I found especially powerful, and in it Komunyakaa writes:
"A foolish fire
can also start this way: before
you slide the key into the lock
& half turn the know, you know
someone has snuck into your life."
Komunyakaa also has an amazing ability to bring alive inanimate objects, like "Ode to the Shaukuhachi" brings to life the instrument and later in the collection, "Ode to the Guitar" does the same. "A Translation of Silk", another one of my favourites, ends with the following words:
"Humans crave immortality, but oh,
yes, to think worms wove this
as a way to stay alive in our world."
This shows how even when the source of his fascination is non-human, he still manages to bring out the emotional aspects of it. The Chameleon Couch is filled with beautiful images, but they aren't just flat words, they bring the shape into existence and give it personality. In one of the final poems, "The Thorn Merchant's Godson", Komunyakaa writes:
"The gift
is the weight of a pocket watch
ticking like a fat slug of gold
pressed against his groin."
It is the kind of image I can exactly picture, bringing the moment to life with his tiny details and metaphors. That said, there wasn't exactly the kind of connecting themes I often find in poetry. There was a lot about music, and part II had many references to the Holocaust– boys with stars pinned to their sleeves and other Nazi imagery like Auschwitz– but there wasn't the kind of common thread that easily strings the poems together. Maybe that was the reason there were a few I simply didn't get, like "A Poem Written Inside A Big Round Machine".
Many of the poems in part III of the collection were more story than poem, steeped in history, but they are further proof of the way Komunyakaa brings moments to life. In "The Hedonist", much of which seems like a story in poetic form, he still manages to include his own sharp brand of imagery, writing:
"I am flesh
born to another dream of flesh. If I am clay,
it is the same merciless clay you are made of,
with a red vein of iron running through it, the same
naked prayer in the dark holding the song together."
Still, even in Komunyakaa's darkest poems he brings a little bit of light to the surface. "Kindness" and "Goodness" are perfect examples of this. In "Goodness" he combines the imagery, the storytelling, and the bleak hope that seems to define his poetry, writing:
"I’d love to believe nature
is never truly unkind, that she
only wills the tiger bee its stinger
to guard the rally of honeysuckle
climbing the rusty iron-spiked gate
where mercy pulled all the fruit
down to the lowest branches."
Overall, this is a collection filled with images and stories, and though I didn't grasp them all, there were plenty contained within it that left a lasting impression. The poet doesn't play with form, most of the poems appear the same stylistically, rather it is the images and rhythm of the poetry that makes it so unique. Ultimately, The Chameleon Couch was a wonderful introduction to Yusef Komunyakaa and was a lovely reminder to myself to pick up some more poetry before the rest of the 2012 is gone.
As soon as I opened the book to the first poem, I was awed by the delicateness of Komunyakaa's words, his soft and sharp contrasting imagery. In that first poem, "Canticle", which remained one of my favourites of the entire collection, he writes:
"Because I mistrust my head & hands, because I know salt
tinctures my songs, I tried hard not to touch you
even as I pulled you into my arms."
The poem itself finishes with these lines:
" I only want to hold you this way: a bundle of wild orchids
broken at the wet seam of memory & manna."
His words are filled with these beautiful images that bring his poems alive, vivid on the page. The collection is divided into three parts, but what they all have in common is their haunting insight into personal moments and the time when everything changes. "Ignis Fatuus" was another poem I found especially powerful, and in it Komunyakaa writes:
"A foolish fire
can also start this way: before
you slide the key into the lock
& half turn the know, you know
someone has snuck into your life."
Komunyakaa also has an amazing ability to bring alive inanimate objects, like "Ode to the Shaukuhachi" brings to life the instrument and later in the collection, "Ode to the Guitar" does the same. "A Translation of Silk", another one of my favourites, ends with the following words:
"Humans crave immortality, but oh,
yes, to think worms wove this
as a way to stay alive in our world."
This shows how even when the source of his fascination is non-human, he still manages to bring out the emotional aspects of it. The Chameleon Couch is filled with beautiful images, but they aren't just flat words, they bring the shape into existence and give it personality. In one of the final poems, "The Thorn Merchant's Godson", Komunyakaa writes:
"The gift
is the weight of a pocket watch
ticking like a fat slug of gold
pressed against his groin."
It is the kind of image I can exactly picture, bringing the moment to life with his tiny details and metaphors. That said, there wasn't exactly the kind of connecting themes I often find in poetry. There was a lot about music, and part II had many references to the Holocaust– boys with stars pinned to their sleeves and other Nazi imagery like Auschwitz– but there wasn't the kind of common thread that easily strings the poems together. Maybe that was the reason there were a few I simply didn't get, like "A Poem Written Inside A Big Round Machine".
Many of the poems in part III of the collection were more story than poem, steeped in history, but they are further proof of the way Komunyakaa brings moments to life. In "The Hedonist", much of which seems like a story in poetic form, he still manages to include his own sharp brand of imagery, writing:
"I am flesh
born to another dream of flesh. If I am clay,
it is the same merciless clay you are made of,
with a red vein of iron running through it, the same
naked prayer in the dark holding the song together."
Still, even in Komunyakaa's darkest poems he brings a little bit of light to the surface. "Kindness" and "Goodness" are perfect examples of this. In "Goodness" he combines the imagery, the storytelling, and the bleak hope that seems to define his poetry, writing:
"I’d love to believe nature
is never truly unkind, that she
only wills the tiger bee its stinger
to guard the rally of honeysuckle
climbing the rusty iron-spiked gate
where mercy pulled all the fruit
down to the lowest branches."
Overall, this is a collection filled with images and stories, and though I didn't grasp them all, there were plenty contained within it that left a lasting impression. The poet doesn't play with form, most of the poems appear the same stylistically, rather it is the images and rhythm of the poetry that makes it so unique. Ultimately, The Chameleon Couch was a wonderful introduction to Yusef Komunyakaa and was a lovely reminder to myself to pick up some more poetry before the rest of the 2012 is gone.
abetterjulie's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like these more, the language was enticing and the rhythms rolled, but it was entirely over my head. I did not feel smart enough to enjoy this collection the way I think the poet intended.
serenaac's review against another edition
5.0
The Chameleon Couch by Yusef Komunyakaa — broken into three sections — challenges the mind and the internal rhythm of our souls. It challenges our preconceptions about everything from music to what it means to be an African American. In the form of aubades and odes, Komunyakaa evokes song throughout the collection, which have readers very focused on how the rhythms of the poems impact them beyond the words spoken. The poet is striving to reach not only the logical mind here, but something deeper, ethereal, like a soul.
There are allusions in this volume that are religious, musical, and mythological, but these do not detract from the poems’ power. “Kindness” (page 28), is one of the most dense poems in the collection, filled with a number of allusions including the consumption of salt as a sign of friendship. However, even if not all the references are clear at first glance, it is clear that kindness is often recognized even in the bleakest of moments and in the darkest of places even if someone has been a “stranger” to it.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/10/the-chameleon-couch-by-yusef-komunyakaa.html
There are allusions in this volume that are religious, musical, and mythological, but these do not detract from the poems’ power. “Kindness” (page 28), is one of the most dense poems in the collection, filled with a number of allusions including the consumption of salt as a sign of friendship. However, even if not all the references are clear at first glance, it is clear that kindness is often recognized even in the bleakest of moments and in the darkest of places even if someone has been a “stranger” to it.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/10/the-chameleon-couch-by-yusef-komunyakaa.html
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