Sandra Simonds

I have nothing to say to you.
I am a professor of some kind. I am a worker
of some kind. I am a mother of some kind.
I cannot see you. I am in debt. I can see you.
I am teaching a humanities course of some kind.
I want very badly to talk to you. I am in debt.
I am writing this for you but even the language
between us is a critique of these mental pyrotechnics.
I want my professorial chair! I want to dazzle you
with my technique! I am in debt.
- from "Glass Box"

I really wavered on this one. If I did show more grade just on technique, it would absolutely be four stars. If I were in a slightly different place as a reader, it might be four stars. I will probably reread this, and on a different day it might well be four stars. (What I'm saying is, you probably want to read it, because it might be four or five stars for you.) The second poem in the book, "Occupying" - which is apparently based on the Fibonacci sequence - was absolutely rip roaring fun to read out loud. "A Poem for Landlords" and "I Grade Online Humanities Tests" were also wonderful. (I should probably also mention that the poet's improvement since [b:Mother Was a Tragic Girl|13548792|Mother Was a Tragic Girl|Sandra Simonds|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1331902606s/13548792.jpg|19114350] is phenomenal, and probably deserves a star on its own.) So certainly, a handful of these poems are absolutely brilliant. They just didn't set me on fire. I like my poetry to set me on fire. That said, I may just be a terrible reader right now. Here, have a little more poetry and see what you think:

MODEL RECONSTRUCTION OF ANCIENT ROME

In the lower right is the Pantheon. We use a program called
MODFLOW to model groundwater and drawdown
of the aquifer. The sun moves across the oculus
as children dig holes in the garden.
Today, I stole a few hours from work.
The structure of the whole is a symbol of the world.
The structure and I hate each other.
Arches spring up. Do you want to go to Sephora?
Here I am. Sephora, gold mascara, symbol of stolen work.
- from "Steal It Back"

I mean, that really kind of deserves four stars, doesn't it? I am a terrible reader. show less

There is a measure of brilliance to this poetry, both in terms of language and thought; an intellectualization that, at times, doesn’t seem too concerned with the reader and whether they’re being left behind. That said, Simonds’s genius itself is undeniable and, I would guess, not terribly concerned with who or what it’s leaving behind. This is work that will most appeal to readers who like their poetry served with a heavy dose of politics, particularly those concerned with show more feminism’s remaining work and forceful critiques of capitalism.

http://thenervousbreakdown.com/kbaumeister/2017/08/the-nervous-breakdowns-review... show less

Orlando is banded together by the intensity of Simonds language, experience, and self-reflexive use of myth, philosophy, day to day activities, and extreme trauma. There's a continuity of voice, in the first poem, and the second plays more with voice and form and both in their constant interplay of fantasy and reality felt like dangling on the edge of a precipice.