One Hand on the Wheel

California Poetry Series #1

by Dan Bellm

Poetry. Gay and Lesbian Studies. A gay son's troubled homage to his father, ONE HAND ON THE WHEEL is also the first book in the new California Poetry Series by Roundhouse Press a new imprint of Hayday Books. In a series of linked poems, a gay son at his father's deathbed (no accident/ it's me, Dad, your mortal enemy and friend . . . ) uncovers his family's past and his own passage from childhood to raising a son. Singular, fresh . . . [Dan Bellm] is an American artist of enormous gifts and discipline - June Jordan. Dan Bellm's courageous and human poems are a strong inauguration for the California Poetry Series. A very fine book - Adrienne Rich.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Grief

64 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, it is uncanny the similarities between this author's life and my own. From the first poem, "Hands" (which sent me on an hour-long crying binge), I was hooked into this journey.
It's Mr. Bellm's titles that are the most admirable craft choices in this collection. The story and details he is drawing upon are so specific that I knew it would be a challenge for him to universalize these poems. It is almost solely through the brilliant titles that he achieves this feat. The stark, simple titles take these deeply personal pieces about grief and searching a past for a present identity and lift them to an accessible level. The first three sections contain broad, conceptual titles, placing the reader in the exact emotional place that is needed to traverse the bumpy roads Bellm travels into his family's history. The fourth and fifth sections, in which the titles draw on pop culture and religious references, playfully break from the deeply serious poems that precede them, while also giving the reader some common bonds from which to relate to the writer's experiences. The final section returns to the bare titles of the beginning, bringing the reader full circle, and providing a "Brightness" (63) in which to begin healing.
Overall, it was difficult for me to find fault in these poems, or to even look at them critically, because they so immediately spoke to my own experience and therefore easily affected me. There were some conclusions that I felt tried to wrap up the sentiment of the poem too neatly, but even those I was able to fall for because of the relatable emotional content. I'm so grateful I was introduced to this poet, and I will definitely seek out his other books.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What's the use? I want him back. If I could make him pay, I wouldn't." says it ALL; one of the most cohesive, interesting, gut-wrenching collections i've read since "crush"--love love love it <3

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

“What’s the use? I want him back. If I could make him pay, I wouldn’t.”

[Mills College Library]

811.54 B445o 1999