Scan barcode
msw's review
5.0
Dear All, by Maggie Anderson
This is Maggie Anderson's fifth book of poetry. Her work is a wonderful mix of what seems accessible on the surface but has puzzles and depths that are discernible only upon rereading. The title poem, "Dear All," addresses the array of people we have all known in life ("You who are the trees out the window to me," "You whom I failed to thank and you I failed to turn to"). The poem goes on gracefully, ending with:
I have remained steadfast here
I have remembered you wholly into this day.
I'm not even sure if I could analyze why this poem is so moving, but I found it very powerful. Likewise, the final poem, short and magical, uplifts like a deep breath, even in its mystery.
In between these two outstanding poems are many that are fully their equals: some probably autobiographical like "House of Drink," and the wonderful "Cleaning the Guns" about uncles who hunt and teach the young narrator how to name and clean the parts of the weapons. Other poems are about war, about poetry and poets. And some combine the literary and autobiographical like "My Father and Ezra Pound."
There is also a lot of nature, a lot of deep sensuality, much life experience, and many beautiful lines that work not by drawing attention to themselves, but by gently grabbing our coat lapels and drawing our attention to the world as Anderson sees it.
Maggie Anderson is perhaps the most trustworthy poet I know: it is always worth going into her poems, as deep as you can. She guides us in and brings us back refreshed, calmed, and with a new appreciation and apprehension of our lives.
This is Maggie Anderson's fifth book of poetry. Her work is a wonderful mix of what seems accessible on the surface but has puzzles and depths that are discernible only upon rereading. The title poem, "Dear All," addresses the array of people we have all known in life ("You who are the trees out the window to me," "You whom I failed to thank and you I failed to turn to"). The poem goes on gracefully, ending with:
I have remained steadfast here
I have remembered you wholly into this day.
I'm not even sure if I could analyze why this poem is so moving, but I found it very powerful. Likewise, the final poem, short and magical, uplifts like a deep breath, even in its mystery.
In between these two outstanding poems are many that are fully their equals: some probably autobiographical like "House of Drink," and the wonderful "Cleaning the Guns" about uncles who hunt and teach the young narrator how to name and clean the parts of the weapons. Other poems are about war, about poetry and poets. And some combine the literary and autobiographical like "My Father and Ezra Pound."
There is also a lot of nature, a lot of deep sensuality, much life experience, and many beautiful lines that work not by drawing attention to themselves, but by gently grabbing our coat lapels and drawing our attention to the world as Anderson sees it.
Maggie Anderson is perhaps the most trustworthy poet I know: it is always worth going into her poems, as deep as you can. She guides us in and brings us back refreshed, calmed, and with a new appreciation and apprehension of our lives.
More...