The Beautiful Lesson of the I (Swenson Poetry Award) (edition 2005)

Fans of imagist poems may enjoy this collection, but for me, it fell short of what I expect from a strong--or even memorable--poetry collection. None of the poems stood out as poems that I'd wish to come back to, poems that demanded immediate re-reading, or even poems that I'd want to pass on to other particular readers. Reading, I felt that many of them were written with an eye toward sounding intellectual or fancy, with less of an eye toward meaning. Similarly, I felt that the author held too much back for any of the poems to hold a real meaning for the reader, or at least a real meaning that could be similar to what the writer might have intended. Simply, I just didn't find much to admire in this collection. Minimalist and imagist, yes. Strong or desirable? Well, unfortunately, no. ( )