Blue Lash: Poems

by James Armstrong

In Blue Lash , James Armstrong explores the way a physical place can be alchemically transformed into mental geographies. The world of Lake Superior comes alive and expands outward in these cicadas "grind their teeth/under the blue roof of August"; a quartz pebble becomes "little knuckle/petrified egg/white as a wave-cap"; a Jet Ski "revs past the dock/like a demon out of Milton." Stripping away the layer of sentimentality that often cloaks the lake, Armstrong portrays it instead as a rebuke to human arrogance, and a reminder of the sublime indifference of wild places.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2006

Reviews

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent anthology of poems from a Minnesota writer. I especially liked the nature poems and "Three Crow Songs."

[Michael Kocinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a few days ago my uncle and father in law and I were talking about how unlauded the Great Lakes are, how undisclosed the beauty of the region is. We were wondering when we’d get an Attenborough special about the Third Coast and all of this beautiful water. And so that’s why I give this book five stars. Armstrong loves the Great Lakes. Every poem speaks to the danger, the beauty, the religious fury and bestowing of favor of the lakes. Here is a book length document that lauds this land. These poems are a scripture, a nature guide, and a travelogue presented as casual Protestant testimony.

[Michael Medlen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why are so many contemporary poets afraid of longer lines? Are they writing these poems to be read on a cellphone?

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[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most probably this is really a 4 star book, it's just that I'm not that into poetry. This is a book of poems about the Great Lakes. My favorites included a poem he wrote for his daughter about how surprised he was that she became so very interested in the shipwrecks of the Great Lakes, and how they had a "shipwreck" birthday party for her when she turned eight years old, and another poem about the women who visited Isle Royale in 1904. But the one that most caught my imagination was called "Oligothophic" about Lake Superior and the fact it takes 180 years for water to leave the lake. Therefore, if you concentrate hard enough, you can taste the musketry of 1812,the ore from the bowels of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and the beer spilled from a party boat last week.

At the very least the book caused me melancholy, a sort of homesickness for life near the Lakes.

[A. Kaluza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having grown up on Lake Superior, I was captivated by Armstrong's ability to pull such character and depth from a place that I quite frankly was bored by when I was a kid. However, after reading this collection I can honestly say my perspective of The Lake has changed, and now when I go visit on occasion, I sometimes find myself internally reciting a line here and there - as though Armstrong had given The Lake a new voice in my mind. I would recommend this, but I can't say it's bound to satisfy.