Locusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems

by John Balaban

A generous collection of poems by one of the most highly praised writers coming out of the Viet Nam War experience.

Genres: Poetry

150 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

About the author

John Balaban (b. 1943) is the author of twelve books of poetry and prose. He has won several awards, including the Lamont Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets, a National Poetry Series Selection, and, forLocusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems, the 1998 William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. He was named the 2001–2004 National Artist for the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In 2003, he was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. He has also been nominated twice for the National Book Award. In addition to writing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, Balaban translates Vietnamese poetry; he is also a past president of the American Literary Translators Association. Balaban is a poet-in-residence and English professor in the creative writing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this is a "new and selected poems" collection, there were some distinct differences between sections of this book. There are three parts, and I enjoyed the first and the third most. Vietnam figures largely in those parts, with the middle describing the narrator's journey through the western American states. There are also some Vietnamese, Bulgarian, and Romanian translations scattered throughout.

The work focused on Vietnam tended to be more interesting to me, because it more often goes beyond description. Most of Balaban’s verse is narrative, but sometimes he throws in something from left field, like in “Carcanet: After Our War” (“Every wound has two lips, so give us a kiss.”) or “After Our War.”

Throughout the book are also scattered some musing about the point of poetry in the face of tragedy and difficulty, and some of those are very powerful moments:

“Nicely like a pearl is a poem
begun with an accidental speck
from the ocean of the actual” (“For Mrs. Cam, whose Name Means ‘Printed Silk’”).

“yet poetry persists through slaughter,
as if the systoles in our raging hearts
held rhythms that could heal, if heard” (“Reading the News and Thinking of the T’ang Poets”).

“For My Sister in Warminster General Hospital” is a very touching poem about wishing well for his sister struggling with illness: its metaphor of exhausted birds falling into the ocean is incredible. Also, “Estuary” is touching, with joined shells demonstrating the unlikeliness and beauty of finding your lifetime partner.

The middle section is most strictly narrative and lots of the poems just kind of washed off me. There are definitely some standout moments, like “Story” or “For My Sister…” but it was my least favorite part.

This is definitely an enjoyable read, but I was surprised by how uneven it turned out to be. If I am to read more by Balaban, I will try to grab his first book.

[Mills College Library]

811.54 B1711L 1997