A number of these poems are about relationships. She reflects on all phases, the beginnings, the during, while some seem after the fact. She writes about sex, but in flowery flows, rather than graphic ones, which is my preference. She also has a playful sense of humor, which really helps.
There’s longing, loss, lust, and quite a bit of kissing. In her poem “Get an Afterlife” she writes: “She wants him like she used to want a chocolate cream soda or a double cheese. Now it’s only him she wants to devour-his kisses-the ones that ignite her bones, the kisses that will hunt her down in the afterlife.”
Another pithy poem is short yet striking. It is called “Impossible” and this is the whole thing: “He can’t want what he knows she can give and she can’t want to give it.” Such precision. Most of these poems are just a page or less, in length.
In her “deterioration” section she has some exquisitely darker material. In the poem “It Will Be a Small Thing” she laments “you’ll cry out the most horrible obscenities strung together like pearls your mother gave you right before she died, the ones you lost at the dingy hotel where you never should have been, the name of which you can’t even remember.”
Her final section, ecstatic release, was this reviewer’s favorite. We have taken Dower’s poetic tour and have now earned our rewards. Her poem “Coming Clean” is a redemptive confessional. She confesses “I once served a hamburger from the floor - I habitually curse - I have no upper body strength - I stole change from my mother’s purse” and so on.
This book was beautifully designed by the non-profit publisher Red Hen Press. And speaking of non-profit, are you aware that the term “best selling poet” is almost an oxymoron? Most poets don’t get rich writing poetry. They do it because they are passionate about it. Like Kim Dower. This is her sixth book. Reality can be so excruciating. This collection could be just what the poetry doctor prescribed.
By the way, I had a fabulous time last week during my talk at Bethany Village. About seventy residents attended-they were a welcoming, avid audience. I had some stories, the kinds of stories that Kim Dower told me during our recent radio interview. Kim has been a literary escort in Los Angeles for forty years. She shared her memories of spending time with the entertainers Burt Reynolds and George Carlin.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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