Gone To Earth

by Pam Rehm

Poetry. GONE TO EARTH is Pam Rehm's first book in six years, and one of startling clarity and precision. These poems address isolation and companionship in modern life, and search for what is necessary- in regards to both poetry and belief. In praise of her previous work, Robert Creely has said, "She makes each edge of sound, of a word's various meanings, articulate with impeccable art." Rehm is the author of four previous volumes of poetry including TO GIVE IT UP, a winner of the 1994 National Poetry Series award.

Genres: Poetry

50 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Pam Rehm is an American poet.

Reviews

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Do you know this fugue
It keeps going around
in my head

Like persistent rage

I cannot escape
impelling it

Pray,
teach me a better craft
than dependence”

Rehm’s work is the wind on windows. It is the inexplicable pang of an unknown emotion upon entering a room. Her sparse language contains the nothing of everything and the everything of nothing.

[Diane Henry]

I simply could not understand these poems. I’ll revisit them in the future, since I own the book, and see if future me can engage with them.

[Cody Stetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly just great, short poems. Would highly recommend Rehm.

[Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of true love poetry, or a true book of love poetry. I can't decide which. And Rehm makes it easy for me not to choose. Because these poems start with an addressee, who may be physically absent from the speaker, but it's very obvious she is aware of his absence. But these poems are not just about pining for some one person. They're about love as a concept. About midway through the book, with "A Trivial Pursuit," Rehm shifts the focus from the concrete to the abstract, yet with the same sentimental gravity that colored the beginning poems.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

When first reading them, I tend to feel ambivalent about her collections, because some of the poems just feel too slight. They have to really hit me. Somehow, though, a few poems always do, and I end up really admiring how she pulls it off. I leave with these pronouncements that I say to myself over and over again. "We move hither now thither / towards something // Only to be drowned crossing the river"

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

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