Heartwall

by Richard Jackson

Taking its title from a poem by Paul Celan that is both elegiac and hopeful, but also playing off the notion of the "hart" walls erected to corral deer for a medieval hunt that was more a slaughter, and evoking the very physiology of the heart itself, this collection of poems explores the possibilities for love and feeling in a world besieged by tragedies in Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, and elsewhere. At times lyrical, at times satirical, and written in a surrealistic style that ranges from the formal to the aphoristic, Heartwall explores the complex and sometimes confounding relationship between the personal and the political, between our individual perceptions and the larger vision they suggest. These are poems that ask forgiveness, offer praise, and carry enough irony never to seek redemption. They are, at heart, love poems. According to the late William Matthews, Jackson's poems tell us "what it means to belong in history.... The wonderful amplitude ... testifies that we can live with such chaos and not lie about it or ignore it: indeed the poems are a demonstration of how we might do such a thing".

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

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Reviews

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been rereading books and falling in love all over again; Richard Jackson's poetry makes my heart hurt but in the best possible way

[Benstillerilluminati · Rating 4 out of 5]

evokes this gorgeous reflective celestial feeling that is so vast yet so personal and vry romanticist—reminds me of Rilke at times. at the same time, its center is taken up by the dissonance of: sublime moments of beauty in the world happening alongside all the daily global violences that make it run. i will say that (like so many of my favorite artists) his writing almost turns cloying quite often (or if not cloying, then repetitive) with these constant invocations of “the stars”, “the heart”, and “the snipers in Kosovo”. my harshest critique is that such political allusions can feel forced, exploitative, or so Normal American Guy-centric (becomes difficult to compartmentalize for me sometimes)… but some self-awareness therein is captured and explored thru the irony+satire of the book's second section.

nonetheless, the book’s highest points rly rly hit my deepest heart strings tho… !

[whimsicalmeerkat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I particularly love "No Turn on Red."