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donasbooks's review
5.0
Thank you to the author, Mag Gabbert, and publishers Mad Creek Books and The Ohio State University Press, for the advance reader copy of SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS.
Favorite poem: "Rhinoceros"
Favorite section: Section II
Favorite lines:
Jonah called the sea the realm
of the dead the depths of hell the belly
for thou hast cast me into the deep
I close my eyes and swallow hard
and thy floods and thy waves pass over me
the taste is salted briny
my throat textured
like the grout under my knees
From "Toilet" (7)
I really love a poetry collection that doesn't give up all its secrets on the first read, read and a half, and that's SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS. It took me a while, but I figured out the brilliant puzzle Gabbert built into the form and title. These poems take a little participation on the reader's part to feret out interpretation, especially in Section III where the form experiment is so bold.
Second collection this week I've loved for style! What I love most about SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS is that all through the collection, in many of the poems, if the reader reads closely, they will find brilliant little linguistic games. In "Rhinoceros," Gabbert writes, "I once mistook / the word blubbery / for blueberry" (69). All of "Egg" is filled with these wonderful word games. In "June," she writes to "the dead person / that my tendons / are threads of pain" (41). In "Fever" (40) she repeats the line, "I need a tissue" again and again; tissues are common needs when one is sick and has a fever and is also a symbol for a consolation prize, she needs to be consoled, she has lost something, someone. Make no mistake-- this poetry is smart.
I recommend SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS for poetry lovers and poets of any experience level, though for sure the more time you spend with it, the more secrets you will unlock.
Rating
Favorite poem: "Rhinoceros"
Favorite section: Section II
Favorite lines:
Jonah called the sea the realm
of the dead the depths of hell the belly
for thou hast cast me into the deep
I close my eyes and swallow hard
and thy floods and thy waves pass over me
the taste is salted briny
my throat textured
like the grout under my knees
From "Toilet" (7)
I really love a poetry collection that doesn't give up all its secrets on the first read, read and a half, and that's SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS. It took me a while, but I figured out the brilliant puzzle Gabbert built into the form and title. These poems take a little participation on the reader's part to feret out interpretation, especially in Section III where the form experiment is so bold.
Second collection this week I've loved for style! What I love most about SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS is that all through the collection, in many of the poems, if the reader reads closely, they will find brilliant little linguistic games. In "Rhinoceros," Gabbert writes, "I once mistook / the word blubbery / for blueberry" (69). All of "Egg" is filled with these wonderful word games. In "June," she writes to "the dead person / that my tendons / are threads of pain" (41). In "Fever" (40) she repeats the line, "I need a tissue" again and again; tissues are common needs when one is sick and has a fever and is also a symbol for a consolation prize, she needs to be consoled, she has lost something, someone. Make no mistake-- this poetry is smart.
I recommend SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS for poetry lovers and poets of any experience level, though for sure the more time you spend with it, the more secrets you will unlock.
Rating
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