Gabrielle Calvocoressi

Did I always understand what was going on in this one? No. But I was always entranced! Magical stags and stars and difficult fathers and the Bandleader who is not human but is the narrator's sometimes lover and has pronouns that are not keys available to me on my keyboard. There was one poem I could hardly stand to read, it was so violent, but there was also "The Sun Got All Over Everything" about being distracted from grief by blue blue skies and the sun and heat and women at the pool. show more Spectacular. show less

Gabrielle Calvocoressi has crafted a collection of narrative poems that capture frozen moments of Americana, that ruminate on quintessential elements of that cultural spirit: fervent but hushed sexuality and the transformative capabilities of violence, even if the latter is expressed beautifully with the figure of Duk Koo Kim, in addition to Ruby Goldstein. "I love liked you liked Elvis loved pistols," says a "girl child" of another girl. The girl covets a saxophone and says to it, "Who show more cares if some boy held you first?". This book is Americana not held up stereotypes or easy concessions It embraces the full and shadowed spectrum of a country that pummels and denies itself, and that rallies and redeems itself through the microcosmic figures that exist within it. Here is the swagger and the sweat of common folk, and the unabashed unbuckling of the Bible Belt. show less

It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of this book, and to settle into the vocabulary. I enjoyed her vocabulary and how it connects the poems throughout the collection. Aging and health, nature, memories, grief is all here. Skinsuits change, miss you poems are grief on paper. These poems are dense, with figurative language needing time to figure out (at least for me). I read many of these poems twice. In the end I really liked this collection and am curious about her other work.

I show more especially liked Eleanor of Aquitaine--about bees, comparing the queen to Eleanor of Aquitaine. show less

I loved the poetry, and I also love the poet. I watched a Q&A and poetry reading by them and they're honestly so nice and positive and it made me so happy to see them be happy.