A Poem Review

I recently read a poem. It was written by Jack Little, an editor and poet. The poem is part of his collection/chapbook, called Elsewhere.

I first came across Jack Little when I submitted a short fiction piece to his literary magazine. He edits a literary mag called the Ofi Press. I was looking around for places to submit my piece to, which is how I found him and his magazine. I submitted the piece three years ago, now. And I’ve been checking out and flipping through the Ofi Press ever since then. And all throughout these several years, I had no idea that Jack is a poet, in addition to editor. Like; he writes his own poems. 

I was lucky enough to get my hands on his chapbook (short poetry collection), a few months ago. As I read through, the main thing I was thinking was ‘talented. Real poet.’ The poems were intricate in their detailed descriptions, and carried a lot of universal messages. Two qualities that are nice to take in and think about, while reading.

If I had to pick a fav poem of mine from this chapbook, I’d have to choose “Night Sky,” because it left a really lasting impression on me.  Here it is, below:

Night Sky

          for Don Cellini

Beyond my window, the sky swirls night black
shadows, I trace my reflection in the windowpane
before turning hastily to bed. Puzzle pieces, dream
formations, images of the moon at different latitudes:

Caracas, Buenos Aires, Montevideo,
Panamá and São Paolo

my mind awaits them all, the visits of feather capped
Gods of heavy ancientness, the smell of other
worlds that cling to my bedclothes: the heat of night
and journeys to far away temples of unknown sun people…

I await Bogotá
I await Lima,
Barranquilla, Brasilia, Managua, Bucaramanga…

Asunción… and on and on – all memories learnt
from news stories, a crack of light breaking the sky
and reminding me of the classroom globes of childhood.

~

I like how the first sentence of the poem describes a relatable situation we all go through – noticing nighttime, and all its qualities. Like looking at ‘the sky, swirling night black shadows, and tracing your reflection in the window pane.’ I kind of like night more than day, so this opening scene really stood out to me. It reminded me of how mysterious the nighttime can be. And in a way, soothing, as well.

Then the next sentence of the poem really got me thinking. It ultimately gave me the impression that the narrator of the poem is now going through the whimsy of falling asleep. “Whimsy” because of the ‘puzzle pieces and dream formations’ that occured, in him. These puzzle pieces and dream formations, to me, are often comical, peculiar, and grandiose, all at once. (At least, those are the types of images that I usually see, while falling asleep. Falling asleep really can produce whimsical sights…which is what this sentence of the poem reminded me of.)

The next phrase of the poem – ‘images of the moon at different latitudes’ – leads to the main crux of the poem, I think. The crux of the poem being cities in Spanish-speaking lands that the narrator wants to visit. “His mind awaits them all.” (A really interesting sentence, I think. One with two possible meanings. 1. Maybe the narrator means that he will dream about these cities, tonight…and that’s how ‘his mind awaits them all.’ Or 2. Maybe he means it in terms of visiting these places, in future. Physically being there.)

Next: the description of the cities, which begins with ‘the visits of feather capped Gods of heavy ancientness’ is cool. It reads like a description of past civilizations. It’s nice to read how the narrator regards them. (‘With reverence’ is a good bet, I think.)

The poem ends with the narrator explaining how he learned of the cities. The last line is my favorite; ‘and reminding me of the classroom globes of childhood.’ (As in, the cities remind him of this childhood experience, of seeing globes in classrooms.) Such a heartwarming wisp of a memory. And a really relatable one, too! We all remember the classroom globes of childhood…It’s a really sweet line to end with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#JackLittle #poetry collection #elsewhere 

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Thanks for reading this review of a poem (from the aforementioned collection). Here’s the link where you can buy the collection.

Here is my copy of it, on my bed side table (by the way, ‘night stand’ always sounds kinda snobbish, to me (?? Lol. I like ‘bed side table’ better. 😛😋):

Lastly, here is a really awesome interview that Jack did (I found this through googling him, hehe): coolness, cool interview:)

Thanks for reading this.

 

Last thing: I thought I’d share some other poets I really admire, as well ⤵️

– Alexandra Elle: http://anothersunday.me   -I read her book Neon Soul, and I loved it. Her poetry is heartfelt and inspirational💞

– Ada Limon: poetryfoundation.org/poets/ada_limon    -I read parts of her book Bright Dead Things for my poetry writing class, in college. Bright Dead Things was a National Book Award finalist. -I really admired the work. I can tell Limon is really a master poet…

~

I’m trying to expand my list of cool poets. (So far, I have three, as mentioned in this post.) I’m especially interested in female poets…female poets who write about gender and race issues…as well as religion/spirituality, and mental illness experiences. #interesting narratives.. .

 

thanks for reading this post,

-ethar h.