September 27

The Nearest Simile is Respiration by Ashley Capps

I don't particularly like this poem, but at least there's an energy there, a real feeling of passion and fervency. So many poems lately seem to be too cool for school. Maybe it's just that I'm so uncool that I feel inadequate when things are cool. Dunno. I did feel this poem worked rather like smelling salts on me.

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[is that all you do] by Jon Woodward

There isn't much here here, no real images or charged language. Breaking things into lines doesn't make things poetry, and neither does just taking out punctuation.

September 26

At His House by Stephen Dunn

Someone could write a poem about this topic and make it so appealing, but Dunn hasn't done that here. So much in poetry has nothing to do with what is written about, but how, and this poem is a prime example of the what being unexceptionable and the how being unexceptional.

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distances by William Allegrezza

There's a different personality between, say, Poetry Daily poems and No Tell Motel poems. The latter take more risks, generally, and the former are more polished. This poem, though, didn't strike me as risky or particularly polished. It feels unfinished, and unfocused as well. Of course, editors picking something aside from their usual is also a risk. I don't think this one panned out, but I'm always interested to see what tomorrow brings.

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Osmosis by Lauren Goodwin Slaughter

In the risk v. polish sweepstakes, Verse Daily is often drawing a middle line. For some reason, being in the middle poetry-wise is rarely a good place to be. This poem, oh, I don't know. I can't put my finger on anything in particular that throws me, and I rather like the egg line, but the poem as a whole just leaves me cold. Three poems, three shrugs means it's generally me.

September 21

Elegy: Airport by Kevin Prufer

I didn't much like anything in this poem beyond the first strophe, but I did like that first strophe quite a lot. That's why reviewing isn't really about finding an average, but about reading and then trying to figure out what you're feeling about what you just read. No numbers, no objectivity, no rules.

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Paraphrase of the Parable of the Prodigal Son by Stanley Plumly

I don't even know what to say other than that didn't work for me at all.

September 20

Smaller Dog by Stephen Cushman

The whole poem for me is in the final two strophes. Until then, it wasn't a painful read, but had nothing particularly sparkly about it. The end is lovely, but too little too late for me. Still, I'd read more by this poet with interest.

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Excavation of the John Alden House and Notes on the Riverbank by David Roderick

The first poem is ponderous, with few word choices to elevate it above dense prose. The second poem, though it isn't exactly to my taste, has some transformative language, some very important phrasing. It sings and settles. A quarter of the words, and five times the meaning for this reviewer.

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Tennessee by Alison Stine

It's hard sometimes to read a poem that connects so well without hearing a tiny voice saying "if it were miiine I would..." Just a little nip, a little tuck, but I like it as it stands and don't you doubt it.

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Feeder Lamb by Robin Yim

Oh, lambs in poems are certainly fraught with all sorts of complicated symbology, but this one grabbed me hard with the second line. I cared, though this isn't a surprising poem, or remotely cutting-edge. Oh dear. It's a dead animal poem again. I should seek therapy.

Please read more from the reviewed poets

Links to right are to some of the reviewed poets' websites. Please check them out and show them you're out there, reading. The internet can be like shouting into a well at times, and lord knows poetry has few enough rewards.

If I have reviewed your work and you would like a link, just ask. I'd be happy to put one on the sidebar. I can't guarantee a lot of traffic, but I'm happy to do it anyway.

September 19

Big Fun by Alison Stine

Julie: A line can make a poem, or overshadow it, or destroy it, or change it. And there are times when I can't say what a specific line is doing, which of these transformative motions it's causing. I can only say that it's happening. Something is happening.

In the blood, in the body, I am hard little
stars.

Awwww yeah.

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Blue Visits by Rane Arroyo

Julie: First, the name "Rane Arroyo"? Rocks. In any case, this poem starts with a real bang, and I was really impressed with the first strophe, but then things sort of slip away from me, like the drowned circling a drain.

A tentative toe back in the water

I might be relaunching some WEE reviews, but I think I might go with a different model. If readers would like to suggest specific published poems, available online, for review, that might be a neat way to keep me a little more focused.

So, if you're reading this and would like to suggest a poem for review, something that you thought was interesting or wonderful or you just ended up curious to hear another reaction on, please do. And please always feel free to comment on any reviews. I have a bit of a soapbox here, but I would prefer a town meeting.

Suggest poems via email or in the comment section.