Without

by Maxine Chernoff

Poetry. The series of poems in Maxine Chernoff's WITHOUT are elegiac brushstrokes, each somewhat feathery and brushing in more than one direction, which creates tension and unexpected arrivals as well as someone or something is missing. Parts of the world are wavering and parts have disappeared. What remains is treated in the subtle management of the lines without a hint of punctuation, which allows for "waves" of attention, as meaning rises and subsides. The emotional impact is powerful, as are the recognitions, such as "when darkness loses / its waiting mirror / and tuning forks / stand in for solace" and "readers asleep / mouthing their dreams / fears of whispering / become a creed / until life blurs / like any lens / that fails at attention." There's a sense of meaning passing with the solidity and darkness of time.

"The protagonist of these fifty brilliantly condensed elliptical poems never feels sorry for she knows only too well that 'no currency / buys your / erasure.' And she can even smile at the thought that 'maybe you'll freeze / trying to forget / how things were / before they weren't....' Indeed, one thing Maxine Chernoff is never without is an unfailing tact—a dazzling inventiveness that distances the pain and transforms it into verbal pleasure. As in Emily Dickinson's lyric, 'After great pain a formal feeling comes.'"—Marjorie Perloff

Genres: Poetry

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each poem is a meditation to be entered again and again. The touch of language is so light, the attenuation of a body of wisdom, one cannot help be carried into different dimensions of insight, often delightfully, sometimes sadly. From [without strangeness]:

take the poison
that bears your name
no matter the price
it costs too much

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, razor sharp lyrics. Piercing work, and always very, very smart.