I'm always grateful to the journals when they publish more than one poem by someone. Well, I'll qualify: if they edit well and the two, or three, or four poems feel as though they belong together. In this case, Bathanti's two poems feel completely linked in subject, and they complement each other stylistically. "Women's Prison" is a narrative poem whose sentiment reminds me of the long narrative poem in Anne Winters' last book. Tragic, not mawkish. Empathetic, not overly sentimental. A careful accomplishment I would say considering the subject. "Concertina" is more of a associative, syntactic shuffling, moving from one statement to the next about the razorwire surrounding a prison.
Of course, it's obvious that the razorwire in "Concertina" would be related to a "Women's Prison." But consider that the women in the prison are seeing their children, then think of how the razorwire rips to to shreds what passes through it. Bathanti does.
My, my. Thank you Shenandoah for publishing them!
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