Ymatt Jacintho's review
Walking the Black Cat by Charles Simic
I'm not sure I like him—this voice in his poems. But then again, I certainly don't dislike him—I've read three of his books... And I'm sure I'd read another, if given the chance.
It's more like the voice eludes me, and because I keep chasing it and I want it to be serious I'll never stop chasing it. I'll never pin it down.
Maybe, I am skeptical about the boon he brings back from these corrupt shadows that he unveils and then veils like mirrors. He has so many mirrors: mirrors in a whorehouse, or mirrors in a madhouse--Or is it a funhouse mirror in a circus tent? Or are these mirrors inside of me and in my dreams?
Maybe the house and its mirrors are inside myself, and his poems tell me things I'd rather not know. Maybe his poems come from a place as unreliable as "card games" and "sneaky sideways glances."
Yes. The world he creates is unreliable, like dreams are unreliable. Reading through his poems reminds me of all those nights I hunkered down i...more
It's more like the voice eludes me, and because I keep chasing it and I want it to be serious I'll never stop chasing it. I'll never pin it down.
Maybe, I am skeptical about the boon he brings back from these corrupt shadows that he unveils and then veils like mirrors. He has so many mirrors: mirrors in a whorehouse, or mirrors in a madhouse--Or is it a funhouse mirror in a circus tent? Or are these mirrors inside of me and in my dreams?
Maybe the house and its mirrors are inside myself, and his poems tell me things I'd rather not know. Maybe his poems come from a place as unreliable as "card games" and "sneaky sideways glances."
Yes. The world he creates is unreliable, like dreams are unreliable. Reading through his poems reminds me of all those nights I hunkered down i...more
