Off the Shelf by Doug Holder for the week of April 12
Mauled Illusionist. Jean Monahan. ( Orchises Press. PO BOX 20602 Alexandria, VA. ) 22320 $15

     I first read Jean Monahan‚Äôs poems in ‚ÄúThe South End News,‚Äù a community newspaper in Boston. I was impressed with her work, and later a poem of hers appeared in one of the first issues of Ibbetson Street. Recently I booked her to read in the Newton Free Library Poetry Series, in the Fall of 2006. And later Monahan sent me her new collection of poems: ‚ÄúMauled Illusionist.‚Äù
     After selectively reading it, I was again reminded of why I chose her to read in the series. Her poetry has a sense of play, it slowly draws the reader in, and goes deep; behind the obscuring scrim of everyday life. In a very clever poem:  ‚ÄúHumpty Dumpty,‚Äù the poet taps into the thoughts of the fairytale character as he sits on his tenuous perch, and gets to some larger truths: ‚ÄúThough I straddle a wall between hope/ and sorrow, I find a kind of peace/ between them. / The fragile/ must be above it all, / self-contained, potential / cracked open by surprise ‚Äì and life -/ a lake within herself, a sun,/ The shell is delicate, but it will mend./ Nothing in this garden has not been broken./ Even the promises of Kings.‚Äù

      In the poem ‚ÄúMauled Illusionist Goes Home,‚Äù Monahan writes of the plight of the trainer and illusionist Roy Horn, who was mauled by his own tiger. The poet turns the table on the trainer and explores the illusions he creates for the audience, and the illusions we all create for ourselves: ‚Äú I was hauled/ from the glittering ring,/ beaten at my own game, tamed./ Offstage /I healed/ myself, away from the crowds/ who passed to close and loud, / heart-in-mouth / for my throat in the maw,/ my whip on the back/ of what we feed and love and pretend / loves us back.

Highly recommended.

Pawlak, a poetic junk man
Doug Holder/ Ibbetson Update/ Somerville, Mass./ Jan. 2006
Official Versions. Mark Pawlak. (Hanging Loose Press 231 Wyckoff St. Brooklyn, NY 11217-2208) http://hangingloosepress.com

Mark Pawlak, long-time editor at the “Hanging Loose Press,” reminds me of a lyrical “junk” man—and I mean this in the best sense of the word. He collects phrases, archaic songs, ephemera from the past, and makes a strong poetic statement. In his poem: “A Boy’s Life, 1960” he pretty much lists things in a way that captures the unique texture of an animated, intellectually curious boy:

Painted candy-red stripe
on model ’56 Mustang; added decals.
Bowled three strings, made 5 strikes.
The Day The Earth Stood Still-scary!
Ice breaking up on Niagara River.

Easter. Bopschu’s sauerkraut pierogies
and duck’s blood soup!
Played charades with cousins.
Learning Latin to be altar boy (ugh.)
30 situps, 16 pushups.”

And how about this well-rendered picture of the owner of a cottage “resort,” on the coast of Maine in: “Hart’s Neck Haibun, Book 1 2000?” I think we all have encountered the type:

The “man of the house,” arrives later—the others, now gone were
relatives down for the weekend. In contrast to his wife’s girth, he
is skinny as a rail, has a nervous tic, and is weighted down by an
enormous ring of keys, dangling on a chain from his belt. (Mary:
Are you sure he is not a speed freak?”)

But anyone who is familiar with Pawlak’s work realizes there is a very strong political component to it. In: “All the News: Sept 23, 2001,” Pawlak has a deliciously ironic poke at the war in Afghanistan:

According to the Times,
Air Force bombers are heading
toward distant airfields
to fight a shadowy foe
flitting through mountains
in a deeply hostile land
already so poor and so ruined
by two decades of war that it is
virtually bereft of targets.

“FORGET THE PAST,”
the headline instructs
“IT’S A WAR UNLIKE ANY OTHER.”

I review a lot of poetry books, and I can say Pawlak has a very quirky, engaging and unique style. Recommended.  For more info go to: http://hangingloosepress.com

Doug Holder/ Ibbetson Update/ March 2006/ Somerville, Mass.