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Poet's collection fine example of local scene
Review By Brad Quinn
Cincinnatians take a lot of pride in their cuisine, their beloved Reds, their churches and the newly relocated Hustler store. But what many do not know is that we have an extraordinary community of poets in this town.
In fact, just one of several fine books recently published by local poets is John Drury's The Disappearing Town, a collection which takes the reader from the geographical locales of Venice to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Along the way the reader experiences the alienation of "Odd Jobs," a three-part remembrance of menial jobs past. In the section titled "Motor Lodge" the poet resignedly announces "So this is it, experience," a powerful and funny commentary on the absurdity and drudgery of paying your dues.
In "Ghazal for my Father," a meditation on a father and son's inability to confront the subject of their painful separation, fishing becomes a metaphor for unanswered questions: "When we meet now for dinner, we never talk about fishing./We order crabs and don't discuss why he left home. We're waiting."
"March Evening in the Piazzetta," finds the poet alone in a café wondering why no one will come take his place: "I won't give up my cold espresso until/somebody comes to sit and hail the waiter, relieving me. It's late. Where is my bill?" The poem is a beautiful evocation of loneliness, and probably my favorite of this extremely enjoyable collection.
In "Learning Cursive," the collection takes an erotic turn, as learning the art of cursive handwriting under the tutelage of a classmate loops into a sexual awakening: "Laughing, she told me 'Here's how you touch me down there./Here's how you draw an 'r.' "
If you have any interest at all in poetry, you should ask at your local bookstore for Drury's collection or one of the other collections by our local poets. There really is an extraordinary amount of poetic talent here. It's one of our city's all-too-buried treasures.
John Drury will read and sign The Disappearing Town at the Clifton Avenue Main campus UC Bookstore at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. He will also give a reading along with poet Don Bogen at 8 p.m. on May 22 at the York Street Café.
E-mail Brad Quinn
Previously in Books
'A' Is for 'Aloha'
Interview By Brad Quinn
(April 27, 2000)
Shedding 'Light'
Interview By Rebecca Lomax
(April 20, 2000)
Words, Words, Words
By Brandon Brady
(April 13, 2000)
more...
Other articles by Brad Quinn
Maximum Rock & Roll (May 4, 2000)
The Dish (May 4, 2000)
The Dish (April 20, 2000)
more...
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