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Open Books: Events
February 18, 2010 07:30 PM
SHARON BRYAN
Sharp Stars ($16 BOA), Sharon Bryan's new book, begins with the wryly titled "Big Band Theory" -- "It all began with music, / with that much desire to be // in motion, waves of longing / with Nothing to pass through." The ensuing poems are intelligent, passionate meditations on the complexities of living with the awareness of dying. Her affection for music and language is presented with grace and wit, and her degrees in philosophy and physical anthropology are evident in the work. The book closes with the poem "At Last," in which she considers the eventual extinguishing of the stars to be "a reason / not to want to live / forever," the resulting night sky offering "nothing / to wish on, hitch / our wagons to, nothing / to lift us out of ourselves." This is a bright, mature, and pleasingly companionable collection.
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