It Is Hard to Look at What We Came to Think We'd Come to See (Pitt Poetry Series)

It Is Hard to Look at What We Came to Think We'd Come to See (Pitt Poetry Series)

Poetry tends to frustrate and confuse the masses. At times the masses are to blame, at times the poet?as is the case here. Attempting to disguise broken meter, disjointed syntax, and lifeless diction behind the facade of art, these poems fail to provide a shared experience between the speaker and the reader, who ends up feeling alienated. Glazer seems to be promoting shock value for its own sake without relying on the true elements of tone, voice, and rhythm. As a result, her poems feel like writing-workshop exercises: "He can't restore/ the picture the man/ mad at/ who knows what/ shot holes in." The poem "Violence in Wings" stands as the sole bright spot in the collection. Not recommended.?Tim Gavin, Episcopal Acad., Merion, Pa.
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