My Specific Awe and Wonder: Poems by Reuben Jackson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I first came to know of Reuben Jackson as the host of the radio jazz program "The Sound of Surprise" on WPFW in Washington, D.C. It was my son who discovered him as a poet at the American Poetry Museum, an outreach museum where Jackson worked on weekends giving advice and mentoring young poets. I met him only a couple of times before he died in February 2024 of a stroke. After his death, I learned of his years in Vermont and discovered that one of my writing colleagues knew him from his life there.

My Specific Awe and Wonder: Poems is a collection that Jackson was working on before his death. His publisher says he called it "a love letter to Vermont...with all the potholes visible." It's a consistently excellent collection, opening with a section about Vermont, particularly his experience of being a Black man there. This is followed by a set of witty, incisive persona poems supposedly written by a cranky friend named Kelly Donaldson. Next is a section of travel poems and then copies of handwritten drafts for several more poems paired with typed versions.

The collection holds thoughtful insights into being a Black American, both at home and abroad, but Jackson has too broad a lens to focus on our differences. One poem, "East Barre," begins with the lines:

The salesclerk claimed that the snow fell
with a Vermont accent.

It seems a good characterization of the collection's overall vibe.

The fairly small volume also opens with a tribute poem by Rajnii Eddins and ends with a transcription of a voicemail Jackson left his publisher in December 2023 with a wonderful draft poem, "How to Get There, 11th Grade Mix." Jackson's last words on the voicemail are an apt conclusion: "Thanks for listening. Keep on keeping on, okay? These are trying times. Trying AF. Bye-bye."

Jackson’s poetry has been published in many anthologies. This final collection of warm, wide-ranging poems is a great addition to his body of work.



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