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Render
Poetry. RENDER by Joseph Zaccardi is a collection of poetry that covers territory both painful and sublime. Joseph is a fine poet who has clearly mastered the craft of writing. He makes no mistakes as he guides us through the pain and then lifts us gently. In "From Baker Beach to the Golden Gate" he opens a difficult moment, provides a daring question and then lets us stay in the question and gather deep, personal answers. "Pulling / the disparate those who leapt, those / who walked away, and the man who wrote / in his suicide letter that he wouldn't jump / if only one person smiled at him." RENDER is like this throughout. It is satisfying to be in the throes of a poet of such quality who has such respect for his reader.
87 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 31, 2018
Zaccardi's ability to merge the commonplace with the cosmic in a musical flow without complications
makes reading Render an enjoyable and at the same time profound experience. Humor, irony, pathos take one from Vietnam to Mrs. Halpern's back yard to chopping onions with as ease that makes one want to re-ead and re-read.
makes reading Render an enjoyable and at the same time profound experience. Humor, irony, pathos take one from Vietnam to Mrs. Halpern's back yard to chopping onions with as ease that makes one want to re-ead and re-read.
November 19, 2009
The bio in Render doesn’t mention military service, but Zaccardi’s poems do. I wouldn’t call them “war poems”; rather, these poems appear early in the collection, making war an early experience that the narrator responds to. The title poem says, “What takes away, gives” (60). Is this something war taught the veteran? As I think about the veterans in my life, I think about simplicity of the ultimate sacrifice and the difficulty of surviving.
Zaccardi’s book is not about transcending but surviving a “rotten war” without letting the touch of rot destroy the veteran (5). Throughout the collection he plays with the words “lessen” and “lesson,” homonyms, to be sure, but also synonyms if the loser observes not only what is lost but what takes its place and how whatever appears lost is transformed (1, 10, 13, 47, 71).
One technique Zaccardi employs is the negated image (Cesmat). At least since Shakespeare noted that his mistress’ eyes were nothing like the sun, poets have used negating descriptions come as close as possible to what they were attempting to say. Zaccardi occasionally uses a negated image where others might have willfully forgotten for reasons self-defense. In the poem “Regret” he writes,
The end of one thing is the edge of a new thing. Rather than write reminiscences, Zacccardi writes through something like war to the next thing:
What some might consider negation or obliteration, Zaccardi seems to consider transformation. Inspired by Li Po’s observation that “tea changes water,” Zaccardi seems to go one better and note that change is the essence of water (29). In the poem “Waterchain,” he writes, “At the altar we will someday lie,/the sacrifice,/the Christ. Iron holding body to wood./This is the judgment, the devouring and emptying./It is water that holds us surrounds, captures” (44). The word “capture” resonates with military overtones and sites the conflict within.
It is interesting the poem concludes with a reversal but not a resurrection. I find myself asking during other poems if these transformations are true. In “Illumine,” Zaccardi writes “What is reflection if not desire?/With it comes devastation” (11). Later in “Desolation,” Zaccardi observes how the landscape recovers from fire while a farm does not; conversely, it seems that desire might not come with devastation. Perhaps this is a lesson some our veterans have to teach enlistees who want to lose their innocence while winning a war.
Notes
Cesmat, Brandon. “Negated Images: Edge of the Real.” Blazing Laptops. San Diego Writers Ink, CA, 29 March 2008.
Zaccardi’s book is not about transcending but surviving a “rotten war” without letting the touch of rot destroy the veteran (5). Throughout the collection he plays with the words “lessen” and “lesson,” homonyms, to be sure, but also synonyms if the loser observes not only what is lost but what takes its place and how whatever appears lost is transformed (1, 10, 13, 47, 71).
One technique Zaccardi employs is the negated image (Cesmat). At least since Shakespeare noted that his mistress’ eyes were nothing like the sun, poets have used negating descriptions come as close as possible to what they were attempting to say. Zaccardi occasionally uses a negated image where others might have willfully forgotten for reasons self-defense. In the poem “Regret” he writes,
What I forget is kept on a long list, white tape
of a cash receipt. It unfurls, accounting for debits,
each detail printed in a blue smear.
***
I can’t remember nearly missing first call to colors,
or hesitating at the gangway, saluting the ensign,
or almost not leaving. (8)
The end of one thing is the edge of a new thing. Rather than write reminiscences, Zacccardi writes through something like war to the next thing:
…. Everything turns
on itself: the earth, our sun, a dog
tied to a Maypole. And who will be sorry
if “nothing” is uncovered, who will care
if there’s no world at the end? (64)
What some might consider negation or obliteration, Zaccardi seems to consider transformation. Inspired by Li Po’s observation that “tea changes water,” Zaccardi seems to go one better and note that change is the essence of water (29). In the poem “Waterchain,” he writes, “At the altar we will someday lie,/the sacrifice,/the Christ. Iron holding body to wood./This is the judgment, the devouring and emptying./It is water that holds us surrounds, captures” (44). The word “capture” resonates with military overtones and sites the conflict within.
It is interesting the poem concludes with a reversal but not a resurrection. I find myself asking during other poems if these transformations are true. In “Illumine,” Zaccardi writes “What is reflection if not desire?/With it comes devastation” (11). Later in “Desolation,” Zaccardi observes how the landscape recovers from fire while a farm does not; conversely, it seems that desire might not come with devastation. Perhaps this is a lesson some our veterans have to teach enlistees who want to lose their innocence while winning a war.
Notes
Cesmat, Brandon. “Negated Images: Edge of the Real.” Blazing Laptops. San Diego Writers Ink, CA, 29 March 2008.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews