Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor

I am horrible at articulating why I like some poems and don't really respond to others, but I really enjoyed this collection of poetry by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor. As you may guess from the title, the author is concerned with exploring language -- learning it (especially English-speaking Americans learning Spanish), teaching it, and using it to explore the interplay between being a mother and being a daughter. Cahnmann-Taylor has an inventive sense of form, which plays well with with the show more content of her poems. This was a strong and compelling collection, and one I'd recommend to any poetry-enjoyer or Spanish-language learner. show less

This book is made up of three sections. Nothing particularly struck me in the first part (Imperfect Tense) about learning to speak Spanish. In fact, some poems were just plain confusing. There are notes in the back explaining different poems, but if I have to rely on notes to understand or simply enjoy a poem (you don't always have to understand it to like it), it's not worth it—though those more academically minded might disagree.

There were some astute observations in the second part show more (Past Tense) about teaching English and poetry to immigrants. "Undocumented Youth March for In-State Tuition" and "1750, Natural History of Barbados in Ten Books, Russell Special Collections" were both powerful pieces. I loved the language and images in "Dragon Fruit" and "Georgia Horizontal."

The final part (Ever Present Tense) breaks from the language theme, though the back cover states that it is "a meditation on the languages of family" (a stretch).* It touches on her mother's addiction and the dysfunctional family in which she grew up, but it feels a bit jolting when she moves on to her own experiences as a mother. That should have been a natural transition, but it wasn't in this case. Near the end she goes back to the subject of her mother and then finishes with poems about language, trying to come full circle, but it doesn't quite achieve that effect.

Opinions are subjective, especially when it comes to poetry, and many of the poems in this collection were previously published in reputable journals, but I'm sorry to say that most of them didn't do much for me. Still, there is a unique voice here and I look forward to seeing what Cahnmann-Taylor might do with that voice in the future.

*Note: I received an uncorrected proof, so this may have changed. show less

She captures the poetry of being a foreigner imperfectly but expertly. She really knows her stuff - even after teaching ESL myself I sometimes struggle with her allusions. I suppose this speaks to the fact that I taught it so long ago and taught it imperfectly. I especially enjoy the narrative quality to her poems - a story is priceless and she often turns a pithy phrase. Highly recommended. To quote [out of context]: "...what's it like to throw something up in the air / that's important, show more that weighs something, that takes you places -- / and not wait for it to come down."

I received an Uncorrected Proof from Whitepoint Press to whom a owe a big heap of thanks. The cover indicates that it will be published in July 2016. 5/12/2016_dbs_ show less

Imperfect Tense is a volume of poetry by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor. The first two sections are primarily concerned with language: language acquisition (Spanish as a second language and other language learners) and poems apparently based on Cahnmann-Taylor's experience as a teacher of language. I found these poems very interesting, especially the prose poems. I read them more, however, for their content than their form.

The third section is focused on family connections and addiction, primarily show more the narrator's relationship with her dysfunctional mother. I found the poems in this section uneven in quality. Fetal Pig Dissection was especially interesting from a technical point of view.

Overall, the poetry was of inconsistent quality but there were many strong poems. I am glad to have read this work and want to thank LibraryThing for the opportunity to do so in exchange for an honest review. show less