Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments

by Ulrikka S Gernes, Patrick Friesen (Translator)

Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments is a collection of poems that zooms in and out of places and states of mind, from a lit bicycle shed in the back yard to a root canal in November, from a typhoon in Hong Kong to instincts astray in various Copenhagen neigborhoods. Elegantly translated by Canadian collaborators Per Brask and Patrick Friesen, these dreamlike poems attempt, with honesty and humour, to fathom what it is to inhabit a specifically unspecific point in life -- not to mention in the Universe.

Genres: Poetry

77 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2015

Reviews

[James Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are low temperature poems spoken in a conversational tone. I thought some of the figures of speech well-used, like the image of the clouds of an approaching typhoon shouldering like horses over the South China Sea. Some of the poems carried an erotic sense of longing which I liked.

[R M]

This collection of poems is exquisite.

In the Afterword, Gernes says she writes poetry like she donates blood, as a thank-you, as a vital transfer that anonymizes the poet to the recipient of her poetry, the reader.

Her poems, though, feel nothing like anonymous. They feel personal in the same way blood does; reading them naturalizes the depth of feeling they convey, while making the reader experience life in small details, but part of a larger universe all around.

The speaker can be on a bicycle in the middle of Copenhagen, or in Rome noticing a soldier smoking a Marlboro, or sitting in a cafe reading about the latest tragedy, and her words--sometimes apparently freely associative--conjure the world around her and around her reader.

Underneath the images, the real-life tableaux, the undercurrent of poetic self-reflexivity bolsters the lyricism, offering a philosophical connection with meanings beyond the every day.

Why do we write? What do we hope to achieve? Whom do we want to touch?

All writerly questions.

And you can substitute "write" for the activity of your choice or profession, and Gernes's poems will feel as alive, as vital, as crucial.

Highly recommended.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't quite remember when I picked this up. It was the title that attracted me initially, but when I saw it was a new translation of Danish poems I wasn't going to let it out of my hands! Much of this put me in Copenhagen with a cup of tea. I couldn't have asked for more. Aside from the poems, I enjoyed Ulrikka's essay at the end of the book, in fact I might recommend starting there.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was like an exhale when I needed one. How I have never heard of Gernes before this boggles me, but I am so much richer now for it. These poems are rich and sparse at the same time, dark and light; Gernes can take an everyday experience such as running for the bus and turn it into something transcendental.

[Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

slim and sparkling collection