Babel's Moon

by Brandon Som

Poetry. BABEL'S MOON eulogizes an immigrant grandfather, and in doing so explores boundaries that are at once geographic, historical, and cosmological. Brandon Som's first book moves between vigorously detailed descriptive poems and austere, atmospheric lyrics as he finds new ways of reaching for (and even crossing) the horizons.

"In BABEL'S MOON...Som demonstrates a stunning musical perceptiveness on a global scale.... I trust in his weird and delightful imaginings of the moon, cactus, kites, and the origins of tea. And he carries this responsibility well, '...because the opaque, in its refusing / of the light, affords us reflection.' What a sparkling debut!" Aimee Nezhukumatathil"

Genres: Poetry

36 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2011

Reviews

[Paul Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I SPOTTED THIS at a local used book store (hello, A Novel Idea!) and thought it might be a followup to Som's remarkable second book Tripas (see post for 8/19/2023), but no...and turns out it isn't his first book, either, but a 27-page chapbook that preceded his debut, The Tribute Horse. A very handsome chapbook, in fact--nice work, Tupelo Press.

Early work, then, but Som already had some serious chops.

Swaddled in limb sap,
I imagine myself, impulse,
a cadence, a prevailing hunger
or thirst to avail myself of the light
and blister.

That's the opening of the third of the five sections of "My Grandfather in the Lemon Orchard," a highlight for me.

To my surprise, the book does not much address the complexities of Som's identity, a recurring concern of Tripas. Instead, it feels definitely mandarin, in the Cyril Connolly sense, putting its greatest energies into form and language. I have never read The Tribute Horse, but now I feel like investigating.

[Rebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently attended a college-level creative writing class taught by Brandon Som. His advice one day in class was to use unexpected words and to make poems personal by incorporating unique details. In this book he's obviously taken his own advice. He uses a lot of unexpected words and phrases to discuss topics far from cliched. Some words that really stood out to me: "calligraphic / shore"; "susurrant leaves" (created from one of my favorite words, "susurrus"); and "they had blossoms, lilac or dandelion, stuck to the bottoms of their bare feet."
I'd recommend this book, definitely. Just make sure you read the poems slowly, perhaps even several times in a row, so you don't miss anything he's trying to say.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty fantastic collection.

I think I need to collect my thoughts right now before I really know what to say about it, exactly.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brandon's a wordsmith.