Apocrypha by Catherynne M. Valente
This is a beautiful poetry collection. It’s a mixture of classical mythology, Plath-like confessional poetry, and the dark elements of Poe. I particularly enjoyed “Apocrypha,” “Music of a Proto-Suicide,” and “No. 10 Convergence.” The collection is split into two. The first part is in verse and the second is in poetic prose with each page standing in for a different letter of the alphabet. Alas, like all poetry it is best experienced when made personal. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetry or wants to explore new/contemporary collections.
The Asylum Dance by John Burnside
After reading The Dumb House I came to this collection of poems with high expectations and Burnside most certainly did rise up to them. The collection has a play on presentation similar to the poems of e.e. cummings. The collection as a whole had threads which indicated to “The Scream” –the painting by Norwegian Symbolism painting Edvard Munch. In a way the collection was a scream from the asylum and the words did dance. It’s a bit difficult to emphasize the great components of a poetry collection without talking about immediate emotional reaction and personalize it. I especially enjoyed the poems “Settlements,” and “Blues.” I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Plath, Dickinson, cummings, and Frost, as well as to those looking for a contemporary poetry collection to explore.
Poems – Maya Angelou
I now know why so many inspirational quotations are taken from Angelou’s poetry. I generally don’t like rhyming poetry or proverb-like hooks in each ending of a poem, and yet Angelou does both with such skill that I almost didn’t even think about those components as I was going through it. The poems are short and sweet and make their point in only a few verses which is incredibly difficult to achieve. “They Went Home,” “The Detached,” “When I think about Myself,” “Faces,” “Poor Girl,” and “Wonder” are going to stay with me for a long time. I strongly recommend this collection to everyone (including those who don’t like poetry
“Will I be less dead because I wrote this poem or you more because you read it long years hence”
The Seasons of the Soul– Hermann Hesse
The Seasons of the Soul is a very reflective collection–which is representative of the majority of Hesse’s entire corpus. The presentation of this book coordinated by Ludwig Max Fischer framed the reflections and spiritual wisdom fragments of Hesse in an accessible way, particularly with an introduction to each part. The collection is divided in five parts (or seasons): love, inspiration, nature, divine, Life/Time. Part one on love read too much like a Victorian poem which is what kept this collection from being a five star rating for me. It was far too polite and careful and lacked rawness and sincerity. Sections 2-5 however are absolute perfection. Everything is so quotable, I already want to re-read it. Although the collection is translated Fischer did an excellent job. If anything was lost in this process I’ll never know. My favourite poem was in the “inspiration” section called “Books” mostly because of this stanza:
“all the books of the world
will not bring you happiness,
but build a secret path
toward your heart.”
“Books”-Hesse
Infinite Text 