What to Tell the Sleeping Babies Review by Cynthia Reeser
2009 Lumina Poetry Contest winner M.R.B. Chelko's chapbook, What to Tell the Sleeping Babies, is a playful, enjoyable read. The poet's enthusiasm for language buds in every line, and her wordplay and imagery is not self-serving but rather, constitutes fun with a purpose. The resonance of Chelko's lines makes the work as a whole memorable. Poems like "The White Room" are wonderfully eerie, with the images of "faces / stacked like pancakes / on the floor" persistent as the madness the poet describes. But most of the work is much lighter. In "At the wedding, a song," the endurance (and hidden importance) of small pleasures lends itself to lines that themselves "[open] like a dandelion seed, / its small hopeful sail / unfolded." The title piece follows suit:
Chelko's sense of humor lends well to the work on the whole. In "I've decided to name the universe little Josie," the sensibility of the creative mind is captured in a poem that sustains its lightheartedness from the first to the last line. But there are traces of dark humor as well: "The dog of my childhood is put to sleep; / my parents do not bring her body home— / we bury sticks" and in the poem, "When he asked I answered":
Chelko has a gift for using language and metaphor in truly unique and memorable ways. I look forward to reading her future collections.
Visit sunnyoutside press on the web at http://www.sunnyoutside.com/
Cynthia Reeser is the Editor-in-Chief and founder of Prick of the Spindle and Aqueous Books. Her poetry, fiction, reviews, visual art, and articles can be found in a variety of print and online sources. Her poetry chapbook, Light and Trials of Light, was published with Finishing Line Press in January 2010, as was a nonfiction book on publishing for children from Atlantic Publishing. Her book on publishing for the Kindle is anticipated Spring 2010 from Atlantic, and her visual art can be seen at www.cynthiareeser.com.
© 2010 prickofthespindle.com |
||
|