Al-Khemia Poetica: A Women's Arts and Writing Journal: pandemic poetry

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Tuesday, October 4, 2022: Review of Peggy Dobreer's "Forbidden Plums: Poems in Quarantine"

Nothing as it was is how it now goes - Peggy Dobreer/Forbidden Plums

It’s an almost accepted global truth that our lives have been divided into “the before times,” and who we are all now, which, due to the global covid 19 pandemic, have been radically altered, in many cases, to the point where we don’t recognise ourselves.

The process is called alchemy, though that’s not widely discussed (it needs to be). Quite a few poets of note took advantage of this period of seeming inactivity to explore the radical change, within, and outside of themselves, as did Peggy Dobreer, author In the Lake of Your Bones, (© 2012 Moon Tide Press), and Drop and Dazzle ( © 2018 Moon Tide Press). However, Dobreer did it better, and during 40 days of lockdown, created her chapbook Forbidden Plums: Poems in Quarantine (© 2021, Glass Lyre Press).

Forbidden Poems is divided into three parts: Chapter 1: The Shock of Exception, Entries: Untoward Symmetry, and Chapter 2: Oscillant Entrainment. The opening poem “Tine & “Promise”, describes the process of an artisan casting a shape, in this case, a metal ring, as it goes into the crucible, and is formed by fire. This sets the tone for Forbidden Plums, as the reader is brought into the shocking change that takes place in the poet’s conscience:

When the kiln is fired and

flask set dead center. When

heat rounds the silken core

and in those first few hours

the mold does ooze and

grimace, roasting away from

the unforgiving glare, we sneak

a look and waves peel across

the studio. Green folds into

carbon black on steel, armature,

burst and sizzle, bites of time,

hiss and song of industry.

Chapter 1 contains more poems that delve deep into the inner world we all inhabit, though Dobreer’s is more colorful, and elegantly juxtaposed than most, with the the language of covid infused into her poetry:

Com-uppance is now required for

compliance, mandatory testing is reliance.

No one left standing will be left standing. (“Crossings”)

And,

This is a virus I won’t survive one more time.

But I wonder why I don’t just play my last hand

and let myself go out like that… with all my

missed marks bundled into one last straw. (“Phantom in Sight'').

The second section, Entries: Untoward Symmetry, captures a process most creatives don’t talk about, except recently, in social media; the process of memories being used as a distractive focus while transitioning through a deep and fundamental artistic change. In this case, it’s the poet examining herself in relation to others, or her different selves, through the long lens of memory, to rediscover those things lost along the way:

I don’t know where I lost the way of

extending invitations. I stopped

fixing curried lamb, lighting wicks.

No longer selected sparkling wines,

taking time and pomp to pour at the

table (“Inquisition”)

Or a discovery of new facets within the poet’s self:

I love bubbles and

bargains, and the color of apricots. I’m not

fancy and don’t even mention children.

Some things go simple and long as you

knit. (“Simulation”)

The final section, Oscillant Entrainment, chronicles how the poet works toward aligning exterior circumstance to the journey within herself. This is where Dobreer shines best, employing her years of expertise in the fields of dance, body movement, and performance, to distill a beautifully crafted series of poems that examine, in the way that Peter Abelard’s Sic et Non did centuries ago, the final values of Yes and No, Why and Why Not, and where that will take her next, as in the poem “Fool’s Gold in the Eyes of Love”:

This is my body, invisible acre, moon lander,

cold star of stars coming out of this dark

Corona, thing black depth of coal shaft, kettle

bottom thunker, one leaf hewn and shade

provoking, provider, now boom lowered,

calling our courage back. Flesh and chant,

rutilated breath, delicate provider, insider

and long left out.

When looking back at the last three years of what’s been a rude awakening for every person on the planet, it’s reassuring to know that someone as wise, and courageous as Dobreer, took it upon herself to provide not just a chronicle of surviving the early days of the pandemic, but a personal hero’s journey that can be used as a framework by others who have yet to do so. I’ll definitely keep this volume with me, as a touchstone and reminder we all have the gifts within us to change, to accept that change, and to become better for it.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Review of Deborah P. Kolodji's "Tug of a Black Hole"

shelter in place

the days when I feel

like an astronaut

(from Tug of a Black Hole, Deborah P Kolodji)

Deborah P. Kolodji’s new chapbook Tug of a Black Hole (© 2021, Title IX Press), is a chronicle of the author’s journey through the Covid 19 global pandemic. There are numerous other Covid 19 inspired poetry books being published, or coming out this year, but none that I’ve read, so far, contain the intimate and powerful verse Kolodji, a master haikuist, has crafted in the last 14 months.

Tug of a Black Hole contains 20 scifiku, a form similar to haiku, but with science fiction as the theme, instead of nature. I would argue that most of these are still haiku, since many of the poems contain nature references, and space, while not considered a part of Mother Nature, is a part of nature. The 20 poems are composed in a tight and swiftly read sequence, with references to isolation, illness, and the frustration engendered from the feeling of not going anywhere, which are some of the obstacles many people encountered during the pandemic.

The best thing about this, to me, as a poet, and lover of poetry, is that Kolodji takes these awkward muses, and employs them to her advantage. Each scifiku is crafted to perfection, with amazing visuals, which makes it easy to envision oneself as a passenger, on planet Earth, traveling the solar system. Tug of a Black Hole is both nostalgic and melancholy, as the farther the reader, as passenger, travels away from the center of ther origins, and themselves:

lace curtains

in a spaceship window

things we can’t leave

ten years in space

the dish garden

in my cabin

In the spaces between the scifiku, there’s much to ponder. Everyone will get something out of this little gem of an e-chapbook, but the wonder, and the inviting nature of Kolodji’s poems make this a book to go back to, if for no other reason than it’s excellent poetry.