I'm not at all interested in the occasion for this poem. The action described here, of "touching" someone with new-minty breath, is fashioned into something much more precious than it really is. I'm not sure I can imagine any poem that could take that gesture (a woman who has just smeared toothpaste on her upper and lower teeth), tie it to evaporation (the poem is titled "Evaporation 2"), and then claim that the speaker is "touched" in any way.
However, I am still recommending this poem, published in the May/June 2009 issue of Boston Review. The parenthetical asides, and their constant rhythm shifts, invigorates this poem. "the meanings (in increments) lie / bare (she says) (Oh, to her friend) // who is watching" That moment, "Oh to her friend" is where I feel the poem invents a new grammatical relationship (she says, "Oh to her friend") or the speaker says "Oh" in response to the meanings), and, at the same time, changes up the pacing of a reading. Mr. Gander continues to make these parenthetical comments, and they may be straightforward descriptive additions, or they may have this element of ambiguity, adding a graceful density to the poem's possible meanings.
Related Links:
Boston Review (read poem online here)
Eye Against Eye
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