Scan barcode
A review by lawrence_retold
Hairdo by Rachel B. Glaser
5.0
In 2013, as an erstwhile performance poet and aspiring reader of poetry books, I encountered Rachel B. Glaser's first volume of poems, [b:Moods|17120702|Moods|Rachel B. Glaser|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1360551997s/17120702.jpg|23505760], and it was a revelation. ... I really *could* appreciate poetry presented through the page, rather than orally! I gave it a five-star rating. A year or two later, I became a committed poetry reader, and haven't looked back since.
Hairdo is better. Compared to Moods, the poems are less scattered: each tends to be about a single thing, a manifestation of a specific emotion, situation, idea. I was astonished at "Kitchens in the Middle of the Night", the way it evokes that confluence of eerie feelings peculiar to, well, kitchens in the middle of the night. But my favorite poem of all here is "Guitar Teacher":
"the girl was in the very highlight of her life
like a sea creature shimmering in the sun
the guitar teacher has been tracking this light
this growing understanding of her own freedom
inside and outside a guitar solo..."
The big emotions in Hairdo as a whole for me were humor and sexiness, which merged with Glaser's generally young narrative voices and optimistic attitude to suggest an overriding aura of upbeat play. The humor, by the way, is seriously funny. I laughed aloud at "I look at plastic bags / among the chain link / like caught souls / eventually, my vivacity is overpowered by cruel internet bloopers", as well as many other lines.
Hairdo is better. Compared to Moods, the poems are less scattered: each tends to be about a single thing, a manifestation of a specific emotion, situation, idea. I was astonished at "Kitchens in the Middle of the Night", the way it evokes that confluence of eerie feelings peculiar to, well, kitchens in the middle of the night. But my favorite poem of all here is "Guitar Teacher":
"the girl was in the very highlight of her life
like a sea creature shimmering in the sun
the guitar teacher has been tracking this light
this growing understanding of her own freedom
inside and outside a guitar solo..."
The big emotions in Hairdo as a whole for me were humor and sexiness, which merged with Glaser's generally young narrative voices and optimistic attitude to suggest an overriding aura of upbeat play. The humor, by the way, is seriously funny. I laughed aloud at "I look at plastic bags / among the chain link / like caught souls / eventually, my vivacity is overpowered by cruel internet bloopers", as well as many other lines.