MARTIN STANNARD: CORAL Leafe Press 4 Cohen Close Chilwell Nottingham NG9 6RW UK ISBN 0 9535401 2 X £2.50 [$7] email Leafe Press visit the website of Leafe Press read an essay by the author on The Zimmerzine Archive Web design by This page last updated: 11th December 2007. |
MARTIN STANNARD: CORAL | |
A5, stapled, 18 page nicely produced booklet. It is in the usual pleasant format of the Leafe Press booklets and, as expected, the poetry leans very much towards the experimental — and here we go with the horse that wanders aimlessly in the night, as Chloe is informed: & in the morning (don't worry: I really don't care if you spend the night here or not) the rolling grasslands will welcome or reject us ("Mais nous sommes le monde.")The subject is maintained throughout. There is a conversation going on with Chloe: Chloe, the day we decided that to have children was going to be a bit like planting an acorn & one of us running away I remember that day although (Je n'ai rien plein d'esprit pour dire à son sujet) I have nothing witty to say about itand it is obvious from the outset that Chloe is missed and life continues in emptiness and self-pity: how I'm happy to be on my own (not counting the fish) it's hardly surprising nobody believes meThere is one poem to a page and each has been given a title, but they form a sequence or 2448 words including 'happenstance' and 'plangent'.The tone is chatty and very prosy: I've been inspired by clouds Chloe, borne upon the wings of swans Integrity is everythingThe language is simplistic and without punctuation, as shown above; and the sense relies on a feeling of acute loneliness. There is an exhaustion of grief over Chloe with signs of the beginnings of the healing process. | ||
reviewer: Doreen King. |