POETRY

If I Were a Suicide Bomber: & Other Verses

by Per Aage Brandt
Open Letter. (International Poetry). Sept. 2017. 260p. tr. from Danish by Thom Satterlee. ISBN 9781940953649. pap. $16.95; ebk. ISBN 9781940953755. POETRY
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Wry and reasoned, quietly provocative but never caustic, reflecting on our being in the world through aphoristic, koan-like poems mostly ten lines long, this seamlessly translated selection from Danish poet Brandt shows a refreshingly different aesthetic at work. Brandt is a semiotician by training, as evidenced by his carefully considered lines ("when we're no longer in the neighborhood, let alone/ in anotherhood, the pianos get out of tune, very quickly"). And if he were his title's suicide bomber? "I would activate the detonator in my belt/ (goodbye, ideas)."
VERDICT Good work for readers who like their verse philosophical.
Reviewed by Barbara Hoffert , Nov 15, 2017

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