On the whole, a good group of "Discovery"/Boston Review Contest winners in the May/June 2009 issue. But I have to say that Ms. Martin's poem, "Reprucussions of the Current Import/Export Ratio," stands out as my favorite of the group. I like it when the theme of a poem is tied to the action of multiple images in a poem. For this poem what this means is that within the first two stanzas, the idea of "personal mystery" and "invisibility" are made central to the poem. They go together. Of course, they go together, but the art Martin uses in stating invisibility makes me feel a depth to the concept, partially because of the skipped rock sinking, which for me evokes a physical sensation that doesn't seem to have an end, or a bottom to the whatever this body of water is, only sinking.
But this depth is also created by the simplicity and specificity of the images. Turnip seeds sewn into coats and skipping stones sinking out of sight. They have such an easy coincidence, and that ease is what I think lends the poem authority. So that when Martin extends the image, I trust her, and I keep trusting her enough so that when it lands on these turnips sprouting out of gravesites, and a donkey (which had appeared earlier drawing mathematics in the dirt) who has its leg poised for more problems, and I'm not sure I can put in words who "you" are at the end, I'm willing to accept the speaker's need to pose a question without my knowing what all the parts of the question are about. Because this poem is more about the sentiment that drove her to ask a donkey anything.
Related Links:
Boston Review (or read the poem online)
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