Dolefully, A Rampart Stands

by Paige Ackerson-Kiely

A collection of haunting, image-rich poems about isolation, captivity, and vanishing.

The poems in Paige Ackerson-Kiely's third collection are set primarily in the rural northeast of America, and explore rural poverty, entrapment, captivity, violence, and a longing to vanish. Ranging from free verse to a long noir prose poem, they examine who her, or our, "captors" might be. Ackerson-Kiely is interested in characters who are aware of their foibles, and who find ways to turn away from those problems in search of connection and freedom.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2019

Reviews

[Luke Gorham · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2. Claustrophobia poetry. One of the most linguistically impressive collections I've read, yet somehow always restrained. Renders the natural world and small town living as their own kind of dark myth.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books speaks to me in a way I have felt but not seen articulate about anger and the way our circumstances contain us so that we cannot respond fully in our own defense. She does not dwell in the anger nor does she skirt around it. She names it and then identifies something else that is often obfuscated by our obsession with anger, our desire to ignore anger, or the shortcuts we taking in looking for "redemption" from anger. The something-else she notices neither justifies nor overcomes the anger. It's simply an alternative emptiness to the emptiness anger brings: "And so I learned my touch could not be heard./Nothing called to my accept for myself.//I peered into the hallway, for where else do the inconsolable roam?/I comforted the window, its view of the other window."

I keep up all of with PAC's work. She's talented but also unwilling to succumb to her talent. This book follows the thread of her usual themes--discomfort with domesticity, inner wildness--and it's beautiful to see with each book that she moves becomes less and less satisfied with her own conventions and continually pushes to find new ways of speaking to her experiences.

[Sidnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't really get a good foothold; I wish I were still in college and could discuss in a small class because I probably would have gotten a lot more out of this. Some poems seems like a machine learning algorithm had written poetry; it kind of seemed convoluted and obtuse just to be convince us it was poetry, but to not really have a lot of cohesion. I read this really slowly, about two pages a day- in the hopes to spend some time and get more out of it, but that didn't really work. I went to a small women's liberal arts college and this kind of read like every girl's poetry thesis who drank wine out of mason jars and wore like, flowy dresses with a military jacket.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Man, so many of these poems are shockingly good. Ackerson-Kiely has such a unique voice and I found myself both delighted and surprised by her poems in equal measure. Or as delighted as you can be by poems whose subject matter ranges from depressing to bleak. (: This collection is a masterclass in language. And ambitious! There's an extended prose poem that reads like a noir narrative and felt so unlike anything else I've read. She is such a clever writer and I'm in awe of her talent. And speaking of that poem, it's a good time to note that the reader is forced not to assume that the speaker of the poems is the poet herself, because she often writes from a male perspective, like in the aforementioned long poem. I was thinking just now about how she goes beyond merely using repetition to almost make it seem like she's creating a pattern... or like she's setting a trap, casting a spell, whatever metaphor you want to use. It's entrancing.

This is a cop-out, but I honestly don't want to say too much more because I think these poems just need to be read, and widely. Only held back from giving a full five stars because the collection loses steam a bit in the final section.

I will specifically recommend the poem "Laconia," which left me literally gasping. Wow.

And some nice lines from "Shine:"
"The stars do not eat my breakfast.
A man eats my breakfast. Like the stars
he cannot take care of me very well.
But oh does he burn."

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were ever to write a book of poetry, I would want it to be as similar to this as possible. Smart, relevant, full of pathos, and no pity.

She's also a simile and metaphor guru. Her comparisons make you rearrange the tidiness of your dendrites and neurons, and challenge them to break free and go forth meaningfully. Go be better, small brain things!

So why isn't it five stars? Maybe because I've grown exclusive with my fives in my old age. Or maybe it's because I hold onto the hope that someday I can do something better.

I'm glad for the accidents that brought this book to me.

Recommended for poets who want to learn how to do poeting.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to the library in the mood to read some poetry, and recognized this poet's name -- I was friends with her younger brother for a few years growing up. I didn't know she was a published poet now. I figured I'd check it out to see if I recognized any of my childhood in the poetry, and I did. I'm not in a position to critique poetry but generally if it makes me see images in my mind, I like it.

[Allan Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her first book, In No One's Land, had me dead stopped by writing of such prize observations combined with perfect offhandedness. I immediately ordered her second, My Love Is An Arctic Explorer. A book of continuous marvels. In Dolefully, A Rampart Stands, she creates haunting testimonies, dark and light at the same time. Wry, revealing, I am so taken with this work.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I just don’t get poetry. As I read this book (which I picked up on a complete whim, just to try something totally out of my wheelhouse) I kept thinking, “clearly these poems are meant to say something, so why not just come out and say it?” It feels like the writer is being deliberately cryptic, which I just don’t understand. Clearly this stuff just isn’t for me.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is here.

[Shilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You want to investigate silence.
It's Tuesday, the sun is a newly
opened can of mandarin slices,
though it's never hunger that wakes you."

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

...And so I learned my touch could not be heard.
Nothing called to me, except for myself.

I peered into the hallway, for where else do the inconsolable roam?
I comforted the window, its view of the other window.

The glass bore prints of the quiet janitor.
Way up high I could see where the moths get out.


–from “Administration”