The Hospital Poems

by Jim Ferris

Book by Ferris, Jim

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

Published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Michael Medlen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this interesting poetry book at my local library. Like most contemporary poets, Jim Ferris lacks any real discipline, writing in the dreaded free verse that is essentially broken prose eyeballed into monstrous blocks, because paragraphs are not good enough for what are essentially rants about his experiences in the hospital.

The book is not without merit, but I don't really care for poetry that lacks any structure of form. Blocks of text are nice, but again, why not just call this flash fiction and write what are essentially run-on sentences into a paragraph form? At least these words would be readable?

Computers have been the doom for contemporary poets, and haikus are apparently too hard to master, as are limericks and sonnets. Some people find joy in this style of poetry, but Ferris does not really have any new ways of expressing himself with musicality or lyricism. If no one is going to train themselves with basic forms of poetry, the most they could do is read song lyrics and at least understand what makes the English language so playful and expressive. These poems are just sentences and rants, nothing more, nothing less.

👎

[Rich Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another collection I found mentioned in the anthology Beauty Is a Verb. I appreciated the frankness of his experience told poetically. There is a definite call for dignity and empathy in the collection that rings throughout. I’m considering using some of these poems in class in addressing disability studies.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this from a used book store not knowing anything about it, and I really enjoyed it for the most part. A few of the poems just, were not great but overall a few stuck with me.

Favorite poems: child of no one and mercy

[Ashley Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this for my Concepts of Diversity class.

This would be a great book if you're looking for a crip poetry book or are interested in viewing the thoughts of those with disablities in the hospital.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful poems about disability & survival.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of poems Ferris wrote about the many surgeries he underwent as a boy to fix his legs, which were not the same length. The poems show these painful occurrences, life inside the hospital, and how he felt to be abandoned there by his family (isolated, alone, not normal, other). This is a great look at why we shouldn't try to make other people be like us. It's painful, and most of the time it doesn't work. Instead, we should accept people and meet them where they are (or at least meet halfway).

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

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