Sole by David Oprava Sometimes things you say can, as they say, come back to bite you on the bum. In the last issue, I spoke of a stereotypical American being soul-less. Perhaps fake, in the Holden Caulfield sense of the word, was what I was getting at, but David Oprava’s reading at the launch of his new book, Sole, was a touching and soulful one, but then, I suppose, David Oprava is not a stereotypical American.
Growing up on a farm, this book is one mostly of childhood memories, with several evocative metaphors to boot. In with blackened lungs, David recalls dousing a fire, “until the flames were drunk:/stumbling through their last licks.”
David also reads his poems very well, with some excellent explanations. normal – a deceptively simple poem exploring the “normality” of coming home in his parents’ car after a night out – is enhanced with his explanation, where he also questions whether the gun under his father’s seat is “normal”. And I liked the way he encouraged the audience to clap at the launch, rather than discouraging us, as some poets do (suggesting they “save it to the end”). If each poem deserves applause, then of course, encourage it!
Add to the fact that the book is a very nicely presented, hand made book, I heartily recommend it. NICK FISK 8/10, Available from
blackheathbooks.org.uk, £15 hardback, £7.50 softback, both incl postage.
Cardiff Bay Lunch by Simone Mansell Broome Simone has the tag of being middle aged and middle class, and so despite being an excellent, entertaining performance poet, has told me she has been verbally abused by “cooler”, younger people on the slam circuit.
The title of her latest book will not help her shrug off the tag, should she want to, but does the poetry still shine? For one thing, Simone clearly sees that poems for the stage are different to those suited to the page, as none of her performance poems are included. A lot of these poems are anecdotal, at times possibly a little too factual – they might be accurate accounts, but at times, they’re perhaps too functional. There’s a kind of striving; you get the impression Simone has something to say, but too often holds back from saying it, like retrieving a half-forgotten memory, such as in A Covenant “I’ve often wondered which memory/ it was, which memory so strong/ that she forgot, turned back, was lost.”
The poems cover most of Simone’s life, it seems, from university days, till now, and a lot of distance is covered, with several travel poems. There’s a lot to read here, but I just wish Simone had spent just a bit more time with her choice of words, rather than the obvious time spent making each poem look good on the page – each poem has verses of identical length, or as near as dammit, so each looks like a proper poem at least!
Certainly, it is a very nicely presented book. If I have a favourite poem, it is Pontifex Maximus which is one of the more considered, philosophical poems. NICK FISK
7/10, 30 £8.00, Lapwing Publications
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