Subject to Change
My second participant in the FREE POETRY GIVE AWAY arrived yesterday. The kind mail person dropped off Matthew Thornburn's excellent book of poems, Subject to Change as I was heading off to work. I am always uneasy about getting someone's work at first, since if I like the person I feel obligated to say something about the poems1 I was happily surprised. It is a "Brenda Hillman Selection" (2004) from Western Michigan University and I really like everything I have read so far.
Shelby pointed out that many books of poetry we read do not pass our "3 Poem Test" (that is, opening the book at random and reading whatever poem we find. If it holds our interest we flip to a new poem and go on. If we can find three excellent poems in a book we buy it. You'd be surprised how many books fail in this simple test). However, Thorburn passed with flying colors. In exchange for W.S. Merwin's The Pupil I was able to enjoy "The Critics Interrupt Their Interpretations of 'Un Chat en Hiver' for a French Lesson," "Graciela and the Song of One Hundred Names," "In Lansing," and "Plunky's Lament." I think I got the better end of the deal.
So, if you have a book to trade with Mathew I'd suggest you drop it in the mail to him, because his offer can't go on forever, I would hazard to guess. I am glad I did.
- "They were … er, nice," isn't what people want to hear about their labors of love, is it? [back]