Former U.S. Poet Laureate Collins (
Musical Tables: Poems) narrates his newest collection of 60 poems focusing on the minutiae of daily living. Collins proves curious about the world around him and delightfully imparts his observations through conversational verse with ease and elegance, often in tandem with wit and wistfulness. Touching on themes of youth, nature, the universe, foreign lands, and religion, Collins flashes his keen eye for detail throughout the volume. In “Days of Teenage Glory,” he recalls the 1950’s New York City music scene. “New Zealand” has him enjoying a meal and contemplating astronomy while observing the Southern Cross. “The Thing” reflects on a Chinese porcelain bowl, which evokes thoughts of his mother. He contemplates aging and the passage of time in “Once in a Dog’s Age.” “Emily Dickinson in Space” centers on a Rome trip to give a talk and was introduced from space by an Italian astronaut. Unfortunately, Collins’s monotone narration might cause poems to bleed into one another for listeners. The one exception is “Poem Interrupted by Gabby Hayes,” wherein Collins demonstrates his narratorial chops, depicting multiple speakers.
VERDICT Collins’s latest collection of observational, witty poems will please his fan base, his flat narration notwithstanding.
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