WEE reviews May 3, 2006

Nettles by AE Stallings

Julie: I was beginning to despair. Before Monday, I thought that my WEE reviews were just going to end up sounding bitter and dismissive. I wanted some poems I could shout about from the rooftops. And today? Today delivered. And how. This poem by Alicia Stallings is delicate and striking, with wonderful use of slant rhymes to keep things from getting too chime-y.

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Plague Year by Josh Hanson

Julie: And it's not just AE who delivered. Nope. This poem by Josh Hanson is brisk and sharp, with a fine ambigous ending. He's getting better and better as the week progresses.

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Two Poems by Christian Wiman

Julie: And then comes my favorite of the day, the nonce rhymed "The Secret" by Christian Wiman that uses rhyme to keep the poem unexpected, but with the resolution of a door slamming shut. When I whine about cutesy rhymes, it's because writers like Stallings and Wiman can get overshadowed. This is what rhyme can do. This is its power.