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Open Books: Event Archive
October 04, 2007 07:30 PM
ELLEN BASS & ELOISE KLEIN HEALY
Ellen Bass’s recent book, The Human Line ($15 Copper Canyon), finds her mournful and funny, her work an exercise in the breadth of the human embrace. The collection’s first section concerns Bass’s taking care of her aging, dying mother. The poems, while quite moving, are without bathos, “I stood in the cold spot in my heart / from where I could watch everything,” a description which holds true for all these poems. She has moments of delightful humor mixed with the touchingly personal, but much of the work explores environmental degradation and a grim future. The strength of Bass’s poetry lies in her ability to bear, and share, the weight of our collective responsibilities. Hers is a hard, compassionate intelligence gained over years of attentive living.
The Islands Project: Poems for Sappho ($17.95 Red Hen) is Eloise Klein Healy’s latest collection. She addresses the ancient Greek poet throughout the book, Sappho’s poetry and homosexuality compelling her attention. Healy acknowledges the gap between them borne of time and culture, “between us sits the bible,” but finds likenesses, as in “she’s a word like ‘aunt,’ I’m a word like ‘quaint,’ / we’re always off-rhyme, / two words like ‘ain’t.’” The collection is not solely concerned with Sappho. Healy’s mother appears in a number of sweet and touching poems. And vibrant Los Angeles is a strong character in her sharp, passionate work.
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