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poetry12, December 9, 2006 (view all comments by poetry12)
POETRY READING FROM MY PSYCHIC AND OTHER WORKS

The reader was poet James Kimbrell, a UVA graduate who came back to give a reading in the bookstore. At 8 PM, the usual buzz of the bookstore was absent, and it was empty but for the reader and his audience, creating a nice setting for a poetry reading.
Kimbrell?s poetry was well crafted, aesthetically pleasing, and emotionally diverse. The subjects of his poems ranged from mundane and comical matters, such as haircuts, to very powerful and tragic matters, like the death of his mother. His selection of poems to read was effective in that there wasn?t too much on either end of the spectrum; there was good variation between more serious and less serious poems, which helped the flow of the reading.
Kimbrell started by reading the first poem he ever workshopped in grad school. I found that I really connected with this because I am at the same point in my life and writing career that he was when he wrote the poem, so it made for an interesting point of comparison. The poem had great natural imagery with vivid references to a variety of plants and animals. The imagery of the poem was very accessible and illustrated with effective language, and even without having the poem in front of me to look at, I was able to visualize the images very easily.
The 4th poem he read was about his time in Asia. The line from this poem that really struck me was, ?Crickets that trailed me all the way from Virginia?? This was a very powerful way to relate the theme of universality while giving insight into the physical distance he had traveled. It made me think of how some things are the same everywhere, no matter how different or far away they may seem. This was a relatively simple line, but had a profound effect on me.
The 6th poem he read was about his experiences as a teacher. He introduced the poem by saying that people generally didn?t encourage him to write about teaching, but as this was his experience, he felt he should write about it. I found this to be an honest approach to writing poetry; he wrote about what he knew, even if others might perceive it as boring, or nothing worth writing about. The poem itself was segmented into different numbered sections. This style reminded me of many of Adrienne Rich?s poems. Each segment of the poem focused on a different aspect of teaching, or described the experience from a different vantage point. Some sections laid out the scene quite literally, while other sections explored his thoughts and emotions. Thus, the poem was a very well rounded account of the experience. There was a sense of honesty and truth that came through in the poem that could only come from someone who had experienced what he was writing about first hand.
His poem ?Wings,? which was about a haircut was a bit of comic relief, but still a very well crafted poem. Though the poem was of the most mundane subject matter, he integrated many historical and mythological references, such as, ?Rosy fingered dawn,? (from the Odyssey), Moses and the parting of the Red Sea, and the story of Icarus. I found this to be a very creative way of writing about something dull, and I was amused by the mixture of rich historical symbolism and the description of the haircut.
Apart from the poems themselves, Kimbrell gave some insight into his life and his past, mostly through his poem introductions. I found this to be very helpful in understanding where the poems where coming from. Many of his introductions were effective in giving a context for the poem and helped my comprehension of his messages. This was especially helpful in a setting where I could only hear the poem once and didn?t have the chance to see it on paper. It allowed me to focus on the smaller details of the poem instead of constantly struggling to figure out what was going on.
Overall, this was an enjoyable reading to attend. I felt like I had some degree of connection with Kimbrell both on a personal level and through his poetry. His reading was clear, and his poetry was thought provoking and inspiring.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781932511253

Subtitle:

Poems

Author:

Kimbrell, James

Publisher:

Sarabande Books

Subject:

American - General

Subject:

General Poetry

Publication Date:

July 2006

Binding:

Paperback

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Pages:

63

Dimensions:

9.02x5.98x.24 in. .31 lbs.