Henri Cole

Stunning

A short collection with a long tail. I bookmarked so many of these poems, I can't say which is my favorite. The collection leaps from dandelions to wolves with a sequence of images that seems both startling and inevitable.

Henri Cole has collected here a set of poems that I am alternately dawn to describe as either very subtle or very timid. In the background lurks reference to flesh and sex that never quite materializes in the poetry. It’s the opposite of what I would call visceral. Not quite sure what to do with these or what he intended; despite the occasional flash of an enduring image, the collection as a whole always falls short of that (in the words of the immortal Donald Trump) pussy-grabbing moment. show more That said, I was intrigued enough to read more. show less

Given to me by a friend from work as part of a book-themed Secret Santa exchange.

It's been a long time since I've read a book of poetry. I've read the occasional poem here and there, from time to time, but there's a certain enjoyment to simply having the time to dedicate (part of) a morning to slowly going through the book, poem by poem, and thinking about each one.

Most of Cole's poems are short, one-page (14-16 line) thoughts. In general, I liked his few longer poems better than the short show more ones – though I don't know if I can put my finger on precisely why, as the length itself doesn't have anything to do with it, I think.

My favorite poem, on a first read through, is "The Erasers." My favorite set of lines, however, is from "Persimmon Tree":

Poor Man, kind and apprehensive
he looks at himself but cannot see
the beauty of his free will unless
he's suffering at the hands of it.

My favorite line is from "Twilight": "I want to learn the faith of the indifferent." show less

One of my favorite books of poetry, which is remarkable because I usually dislike autobiographically-oriented poetry by men. My favorite poem from this collection is "Self-Portrait with Red Eyes," which includes the line "the hand erasing writes the real thing."