Definite Space: Poems

by Ann Iverson

“While Ann Iverson makes direct references to contemporary political events, she mutes their potential polarizing effect by considering them within a non-politicized her life. Consequently, no matter one's position on our nation's response to September 11, to the war on terror, or the president, one can appreciate these poems.”—Rachel Lintula Ann Iverson’s second collection of poetry conveys the emotional journey of a son’s first and second deployment to Baghdad, as well as the spiritual and physical adjustment to a move from the inner city to a country-like suburb. In spare, distinctive imagery, Iverson ponders the personal, familial, and social transitions brought about by life change. She thoughtfully considers the tension within relationships that change often engenders and by doing so, personalizes a national tragedy and the subsequent war in Iraq. In “Even Though” she juxtaposes the surreal war and its reality with her common life “I cleared my throat and raised my voice, / though the city did not respond. / And the soldiers stay away too long, / for years and years and years / Even though we call to them. / Even though they hear.” Ann Iverson received her MALS and MFA from Hamline University in Minnesota. Her writing has been featured on The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor and has appeared in The Oklahoma Review and The American Journal of Poetry . Her first collection, Come Now to the Window , was published by the Laurel Poetry Collective. She currently is the director of arts and sciences at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis. She and her husband live in East Bethel, Minnesota.

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[T.L. Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ann Iverson occupies a definite space in the pages of Definite Space. Her words explore her emotions about her son's deployment in war. She writes about the effects on family and the way life goes on even when it feels like it shouldn't. She explores the feeling of standing in a space while the world keeps moving at its pace without pausing to notice she's no longer moving with it. Iverson's poems are touching and honest. Definite Space paints a picture with words that immerse the reader without feeling overly complicated.