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Open Books: Events
March 06, 2009 07:30 PM
DOBBY GIBSON & MATT HART
Dobby Gibson’s second collection, Skirmish ($15 Graywolf), is exceedingly quotable. Tony Hoagland calls his work “epigrammatic,” and as evidence -- “No nation’s children will inherit more asphalt”; “There’s only one horizon, yet it can be found / in every direction we look. / You’d think it would be easier to get the hell out of here”; and “Pain reminds us that this moment is still here. / Happiness reminds us that it won’t last forever.” He is generous in his focus, his poems often concerning “we” or “us.” And his quirky timing reads like a stand-up comedian milking a tragedian’s flat-affect delivery. That, or vice versa. The result is the same: laughter and introspection.
Who’s Who Vivid ($14.95 Slope) is Matt Hart’s first collection, a book full of lively, fleshed-out surrealism. “Once upon a time I was missing completely / and that time, once upon, was now. // In my shoes an intruder. / In my face a world of trees.” There is a strong emotional pulse in much of his work, strong yet beneath the surface. “Sad as it may seem, I think I’m nearing the finish / where ’Sad as it may seem’ isn’t really sad at all, / but rather, a triumph, a walk upon water. / Splendiferous owls who’s who-ing on a rooftop. / The Ferris Wheel breaking my heart with its drone.” Hart’s surrealism is charmingly personable.
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