In a Dark Time … The Eye Begins to See

I’ve finished the first 100 pages of Anselm Hollo’s Notes on the Possibilities and Attractions of Existence, a collection of his poems written from 1965-2000. So far, I’m trying to remember exactly why I bought this collection. I guess it was because I like the selection of his poems found in Postmodern Poetry. [...]

I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that I like Hollo’s later poems more than his earlier poems, which is not to say that I’d rank him up there with Roethke or even Robinson Jeffers. Even when he’s serious, as he is here in MANIFEST DESTINY to arrive in front of large video screen, in pleasantly air-conditioned home [...]

At his best, as in this poem TURN OFF THE NEWS anxiety gallops through chatter fading century’s martial insanities brain struggles to sum up “shut up” articulation fails walking shadow slides across faces dusk over epitaphs ash hair rusty litanies dead friends and rain paradise is an idiot bones vines cold day old vulture in airlock scorpion dust sneeze Anselm Hollo seems [...]

I finally finished Anselm Hollo’s Notes on the Possibilities and Attractions of Existence , and I’ll have to admit that I was a little disappointed as his style of poetry really isn’t quite my cup of tea, though as I’ve also pointed out there are a number of poems I quite liked. My [...]