Chord Box: Poems

by Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers

In her first book, Chord Box, Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers envisions a world where each place is best known by its sound. Weaving complex junctions between music, speech, the body, and sexuality, these poems trace the arc of adolescence and early adulthood, rooting themselves in gritty landscapes of the South and Appalachia, China and its borderlands.

Part narrative and part lyric, Rogers's poems make use of the whole field of the page, assembling an innovative poetic vocabulary that includes word, character, and symbol. By calling on figures from the recent as well as the distant past, this coming-of-age collection asks us to consider history, both personal and political.

Whether struggling to make vibrato on the guitar or stringing together her first sentences in Mandarin, the speaker of these poems assumes the role of the eager student, edging her way toward an understanding with both fierceness and a sense of humility. Chord Box is exquisitely crafted and rich with feeling, a dazzling debut collection.


Chord Box is part of the University of Arkansas Press Poetry Series, edited by Enid Shomer.

Genres: Poetry

108 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I went to elementary/middle/some high school with Beth Rogers, so I can't say my opinion of this book is unbiased.

Also, poetry--how do you rate poetry? It's so personal.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this collection. My first reading(s) made me powerfully happy-sad, which is what I consider good poetry. Some of my favorite bits:

"A woman told me this:
to come of age is to recognize
the myths we were taught."

"It feels full,
holy--blue ridge

white with
winter,

hills lining up
in their habits

of snow."

[Charlotte Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this collection for a class, and I also got to attend a reading the poet did at my school. This is a very solid collection of poems that have a lot jammed between the lines. I like the poet's contemporary voice and willingness to write about personal experiences that aren't necessarily easy to articulate. I'm excited to read her book of essays sometime soon!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good case for the sensual nature of music lessons. The section on living in China is great, if less thematic. The middle section is a bit of a muddle, often returning to music if only by way of old men and instrument makers, and the mood here is more of decline and remembrance.