The Invention of Distance by A. Molotkov

A review
by Rose Mary Boehm

‘The Invention of Distance’, a collection by A. Molotkov, immediately challenged my automatic understanding of the way things work, with a vision of snowflakes shaping water, eyes opening the poet, mandalas blowing into the wind in a world where rivers cross borders without a visa, where butterfly wings (ought not to) go, where aeroplanes burn.

Molotkov lets us sneak a look into his fluid universe of the unexpected. In Conclusions he suggests to meet him ‘at the brink of a gesture’, while in Violence ‘gray petals of bombs fall on us’, and in Guilt the ‘street kept running, unable to escape itself.’

He creates a parallel universe which will ‘run as planned’ as long as the poet keeps up his song, but points out in Song that ‘not every distance belongs to us’.

One of the poems is titled Unfalling the Stars, which appears to be a perfect description of what Molotkov is trying to do in this collection.

With Planning in Advance he seems to give us the key to where he’s at when he’s wandering in his world:

I want to be a logical step
a step forward

somewhere
it all
fits together

when I’m done
don't worry
how deep the grave is

I want to hear
those I leave behind

lay me close
to the surface

Those of us who entered through the door he opened will be glad we took that step. Molotkov has a way of convincing you of the beauty of shallow graves.

If you want to buy this collection have a look here:
http://toegoodpoetry.com/books/