I have a thing for Lucy Snyder's work. her last poetry collection, Chimeric Machines, is still a regular read for me. With this new collection, she makes it quite clear that she still swings those same solid brass ovaries with the same swagger. But there is a bit more comfort this time. A bit more self assurance. No less fire, though. Of that much you can be sure.
To make things easier, I'll focus on five poems that i feel best encapsulate the overall feel of the collection.
The Wrong Daughter
This one is all about implication. There is a story here. Maybe sisters who keep getting confused and bad choices. That much is made clear. There is a cycle of abuse and rage and empty living. But there is so much of the tale that lays outside of the words on the page and I dig the heck out of that. It is a right doozy and is a prime example of why I love Lucy's work so much.
The Invisible Woman (co-written with Gary Braunbeck)
Here we have a bit more of a direct approach. The story is all there for us. We feel the anger from the first line. What we don't see right away is where the anger is coming from. What feels like a gatekeeping screed of assholedom clarifies itself into a breaking forth and pulling of the self to the fore. YUp, still Beautiful.
A Leggy Bestiary
A little less art in the Beast in question. Much less anger. A whole heaping mess of wit and charm in their place. Sometimes, amid the depression and pain that soaks through Lucy's work, it is easy to forget how incredibly funny she can be. This is a great reminder.
(In)Jest
Sometimes, the metaphors are thrown aside and we are given some fairly straight-ahead conversation. We are just told straight out where the feelings lie and how they burn and twist on themselves. There is a nice sense of proportion here, an understanding that no side is wrong and that all feelings have their own place. At the same time, there is a carving out of the place for her own that I needed to hear. Also, the pun hidden in the title is pure chef's kiss.
Mythical
I'll end with another yarn. A young girl struggling with herself and the frisson against words that threaten to set her ablaze. Those swarming outside the home and those pulsing within The ways she scrabbles for her own worth, hiding it close to her skin. The ways she uses the sublimated lessons of old greek myths to usurp control. I swooned.
Should you buy this? I guess it depends on if you want to be one of the cool kids or one of us that lurks in the shadows, licking our teeth while we curse their names.
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