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Night of the Republic: Poems
Poetry about places—from a supermarket to a strip club to a suburban home—from a poet who “seeks what lies at the deepest level of the human heart” (Chicago Tribune). In Night of the Republic, Alan Shapiro takes us on an unsettling night tour of America’s public places—a gas station restroom, shoe store, convention hall, and race track, among others—and in stark Edward Hopper–like imagery reveals the surreal and dreamlike features of these familiar but empty night spaces. Shapiro finds in them not the expected alienation but rather an odd, companionable solitude rising up from the quiet emptiness. In other poems, Shapiro writes movingly of his 1950s and ’60s childhood in Brookline, Massachusetts, with special focus on the house he grew up in. These meditations, always inflected with Shapiro’s quick wit and humor, lead to recollections of tragic and haunting events such as the Cuban missile crisis and the assassination of JFK. While Night of the Republic is Shapiro’s most ambitious work to date, it is also his most timely and urgent for the acute way it illuminates the mingling of private obsessions with public space. “His poems are both artful and unpretentious.” —Boston Review
- GenresPoetry
117 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
23 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Alan Shapiro
84 books27 followersAlan Shapiro (born 1952) is an American poet and professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of nine poetry books, including Tantalus in Love, Song and Dance, and The Dead Alive and Busy.
In addition to poetry, Alan Shapiro has also published two personal memoirs, Vigil and The Last Happy Occasion.
(wikipedia)
In addition to poetry, Alan Shapiro has also published two personal memoirs, Vigil and The Last Happy Occasion.
(wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
August 19, 2024
American Nights
"Night of the Republic" is a new book of poetry by Alan Shapiro, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the William R, Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This book was my first exposure to Shapiro's poetry.
The book is a thematic collection of about fifty poems arranged in four parts. The first and the third parts are titled "Night of the Republic" and explore familiar American scenes in the stillness and loneliness of night. The second part of the book, "Galaxy Formation" has a similar meditative character but its subjects are somewhat more abstract and not limited to the United States. The final section of the book, "At the Corner of Coolidge and Clarence", is different from the earlier sections but shows continuity of themes. This section consists of 20 poems in which Shapiro reflects on his boyhood in Brookline, Massachusetts. Unlike the prior sections which are written in a free, unstructured style, these last group of poems each consist of seven unrhymed three-line stanzas.
The poems show a sense of quiet and repose as Shapiro focuses on things of the everyday. Many of the poems are gritty.as a "Gas Station Restroom", "Downtown Strip Club" and "Race Track". Such places are intriguing subjects for a poem, but for me they were among the less successful works in the collection.
The poems have imaginative turns which allow the reader to think of their objects in an unusual way. For example, in a poem called "Car Dealership at 3 A.M", Shapiro describes a lot full of new cars which "modest as angels/or like angelic/hoplites, are arrayed in rows." He describes the shiny, polished new cars under the bright lights in the dark, as they await the customers who will be attracted to them come day. Shapiro compares the brightness of the new cars with what they will soon become, "the dented, the rusted through,/ metallic Eves and Adams/ hurry past, as if ashamed,/their dull beams averted,/low in the historical dark they disappear into".
In a poem called "Park Bench" Shapiro describes a lonely bench at night with a river and bridge on one side and park facilities on the other side. The reader sees the city and the park from the perspective of sitting on the bench by moonlight. In the middle of the night, Shapiro recalls the city and its past and activities that frequently take place unobserved on the bench: "haunt of illicit tryst; of laughter/or muffled scream, what/even now years later/may be guttering elsewhere on the neural/fringes of a dream, all this/ the bench is empty of".
The poems' stillness frequently evokes a spiritual quality. In his portrayal of a church at night, "Stone Church", Shapiro contrasts the heavy, downward push of the stone construction, with the church's religious mission of uplift. In a poem about a more mundane place, titled "Barbershop" Shapiro manages to capture a mystic spirit from the humdrum paraphernalia of cutting hair. "Eternity is the spiral up the pole/ spiraling to its endless end./ Time is the vitrine/ of antiquated gels." And again: "Eternity/ is the swept floor,/the bald air,/the faceless mirrors,/while Time, and its one idea/of beauty falling,/is a book of blank pages/ghostwritten by/Eternity in vanished/passages of hair." A number of poems such as "Galaxy Formation" have a more overtly cosmic theme as Shapiro shows a fascination with science generally and with astronomy in particular.
While the poems in the first three sections of the book take night objects and bring them to day, the poems in the final section take events from the past and bring them to current light. These final poems are the most personal in the book and are confessional in character. The poet describes a family life that does not appear altogether happy while he uses his writing to remember and to achieve a catharsis. The poems sometimes set personal details against larger events as in "Solitaire", in which the lonely alienated figure of a woman playing cards is compared with Ralph Kramden on the "Honeymooners" and his antics towards Alice. Other poems recollect the young boy's reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis and to the death of President Kennedy. In the final poem, "The Doorbell", the poet recalls how as a child he would run downstairs to answer the door to the distinctive chimes of the doorbell's melody. He remembers going down to meet the caller and finds that this caller has now become himself as compared with the time when he was a boy. "You who I am now, whom I have become,/ The one the world's impatient to take back,/ The one behind the door who's pushed the button,/ And waits there listening for the sound/Of anybody's footstep coming near."
These poems have a reflective feel. At times I thought more could have been made of the themes and places. The poems are in simple language and are more accessible than much modern poetry. All the same, they require close attention from the reader.
Robin Friedman
"Night of the Republic" is a new book of poetry by Alan Shapiro, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the William R, Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This book was my first exposure to Shapiro's poetry.
The book is a thematic collection of about fifty poems arranged in four parts. The first and the third parts are titled "Night of the Republic" and explore familiar American scenes in the stillness and loneliness of night. The second part of the book, "Galaxy Formation" has a similar meditative character but its subjects are somewhat more abstract and not limited to the United States. The final section of the book, "At the Corner of Coolidge and Clarence", is different from the earlier sections but shows continuity of themes. This section consists of 20 poems in which Shapiro reflects on his boyhood in Brookline, Massachusetts. Unlike the prior sections which are written in a free, unstructured style, these last group of poems each consist of seven unrhymed three-line stanzas.
The poems show a sense of quiet and repose as Shapiro focuses on things of the everyday. Many of the poems are gritty.as a "Gas Station Restroom", "Downtown Strip Club" and "Race Track". Such places are intriguing subjects for a poem, but for me they were among the less successful works in the collection.
The poems have imaginative turns which allow the reader to think of their objects in an unusual way. For example, in a poem called "Car Dealership at 3 A.M", Shapiro describes a lot full of new cars which "modest as angels/or like angelic/hoplites, are arrayed in rows." He describes the shiny, polished new cars under the bright lights in the dark, as they await the customers who will be attracted to them come day. Shapiro compares the brightness of the new cars with what they will soon become, "the dented, the rusted through,/ metallic Eves and Adams/ hurry past, as if ashamed,/their dull beams averted,/low in the historical dark they disappear into".
In a poem called "Park Bench" Shapiro describes a lonely bench at night with a river and bridge on one side and park facilities on the other side. The reader sees the city and the park from the perspective of sitting on the bench by moonlight. In the middle of the night, Shapiro recalls the city and its past and activities that frequently take place unobserved on the bench: "haunt of illicit tryst; of laughter/or muffled scream, what/even now years later/may be guttering elsewhere on the neural/fringes of a dream, all this/ the bench is empty of".
The poems' stillness frequently evokes a spiritual quality. In his portrayal of a church at night, "Stone Church", Shapiro contrasts the heavy, downward push of the stone construction, with the church's religious mission of uplift. In a poem about a more mundane place, titled "Barbershop" Shapiro manages to capture a mystic spirit from the humdrum paraphernalia of cutting hair. "Eternity is the spiral up the pole/ spiraling to its endless end./ Time is the vitrine/ of antiquated gels." And again: "Eternity/ is the swept floor,/the bald air,/the faceless mirrors,/while Time, and its one idea/of beauty falling,/is a book of blank pages/ghostwritten by/Eternity in vanished/passages of hair." A number of poems such as "Galaxy Formation" have a more overtly cosmic theme as Shapiro shows a fascination with science generally and with astronomy in particular.
While the poems in the first three sections of the book take night objects and bring them to day, the poems in the final section take events from the past and bring them to current light. These final poems are the most personal in the book and are confessional in character. The poet describes a family life that does not appear altogether happy while he uses his writing to remember and to achieve a catharsis. The poems sometimes set personal details against larger events as in "Solitaire", in which the lonely alienated figure of a woman playing cards is compared with Ralph Kramden on the "Honeymooners" and his antics towards Alice. Other poems recollect the young boy's reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis and to the death of President Kennedy. In the final poem, "The Doorbell", the poet recalls how as a child he would run downstairs to answer the door to the distinctive chimes of the doorbell's melody. He remembers going down to meet the caller and finds that this caller has now become himself as compared with the time when he was a boy. "You who I am now, whom I have become,/ The one the world's impatient to take back,/ The one behind the door who's pushed the button,/ And waits there listening for the sound/Of anybody's footstep coming near."
These poems have a reflective feel. At times I thought more could have been made of the themes and places. The poems are in simple language and are more accessible than much modern poetry. All the same, they require close attention from the reader.
Robin Friedman
May 28, 2014
There are 2 sections of poems here describing empty night in the public places of America. They carry the atmosphere of a studied Kerouac essay exactly detailing the texture of loneliness in the heart of a city. The stark sterility of the famous Edward Hopper painting Nighthawks comes to mind, too. Sterility figures heavily in the quality of the light. As you might expect of poems about night, they describe how these public places, abandoned until morning, are lighted. For that reason I think it can be said these poems are also about that light as much as what it reveals. It's a challenging venture, but Shapiro manages the difficulty in ways that are satisfyingly artful while also providing insight into the how light reveals and inhabits those places--gym, post office, museum--when we're not around, as if safeguarding them at the same time it possesses them.
The last section is a series of formal, identical 21-line poems in tercets. About the common things of our everyday--bathtub, coffee cup, faucet--they remind me a little of Pablo Neruda's Odes. And they're as much fun.
The last section is a series of formal, identical 21-line poems in tercets. About the common things of our everyday--bathtub, coffee cup, faucet--they remind me a little of Pablo Neruda's Odes. And they're as much fun.
May 26, 2015
3.5 stars
Shapiro creates, in a cycle of poems, a vivid image of everyday places as they are at night when no one is watching. He observes the unobserved and does so with clarity and wit.
He likes the run on sentence. A lot. He also uses a lot of prepositional phrases that can get confusing when you lose track of where the sentence is going. But overall he is smart and humorous and observant, and I admire him for his ability to take the mundane and make it exceptional.
Stand out poems: "Downtown Strip Club," "Sickbed," "Faucet," and "Shed"
Shapiro creates, in a cycle of poems, a vivid image of everyday places as they are at night when no one is watching. He observes the unobserved and does so with clarity and wit.
He likes the run on sentence. A lot. He also uses a lot of prepositional phrases that can get confusing when you lose track of where the sentence is going. But overall he is smart and humorous and observant, and I admire him for his ability to take the mundane and make it exceptional.
Stand out poems: "Downtown Strip Club," "Sickbed," "Faucet," and "Shed"
October 25, 2012
This volume was nominated for a 2012 National Book Award. I should create a shelf for "not my style," because that's the best summary I can give it. It feels like the poet walked around town one night and wrote a poem about each place he saw. His structures are overly limiting with little variety between them, and it makes for pretty dry reading. The poems seem to imagine what might be true about a place, instead of resonating in truth.
August 27, 2018
A couple of hours into this. Picked up a second-hand copy of this from a roadside book vendor, and wolfed down its contents with all the excitement that follows the hazard that comes with not having the luxury of time to leaf through an impulse purchase like that. 20 INR.
Shapiro travels to different spaces that feature in the lives of the middle class, in what is presumably some small American town, or what is the archetype of a small American town - gym, museum, dry cleaner... and of course, strip club - and shows us the light. No, quite literally. The places that find a mention are explored in the absence of human activity, when everything falls silent. Light is his only accompaniment, and it's quite interesting how A.S dissects the quality of each light falling and dancing in front of his eyes. Indeed, it is the journey to everyday places, places that you would expect to find humans at almost all times, that A.S seeks to ask of them - what must it be like when there is the lack of? Some of the poems were a bit hit and miss, but poems like Flowerpot, Downtown Strip Club, Playground really brought out the aftermath of activity well. I should also mention the incredibly opportune timing Alan has for poking your rib with the perfectly-timed satire. This collection is coherent, and all the poems might not be great, and he might overuse some devices like the running sentence which can get frustrating admittedly if you're trying really hard to follow, but it also has some of the best poetry I've come across.
Shapiro travels to different spaces that feature in the lives of the middle class, in what is presumably some small American town, or what is the archetype of a small American town - gym, museum, dry cleaner... and of course, strip club - and shows us the light. No, quite literally. The places that find a mention are explored in the absence of human activity, when everything falls silent. Light is his only accompaniment, and it's quite interesting how A.S dissects the quality of each light falling and dancing in front of his eyes. Indeed, it is the journey to everyday places, places that you would expect to find humans at almost all times, that A.S seeks to ask of them - what must it be like when there is the lack of? Some of the poems were a bit hit and miss, but poems like Flowerpot, Downtown Strip Club, Playground really brought out the aftermath of activity well. I should also mention the incredibly opportune timing Alan has for poking your rib with the perfectly-timed satire. This collection is coherent, and all the poems might not be great, and he might overuse some devices like the running sentence which can get frustrating admittedly if you're trying really hard to follow, but it also has some of the best poetry I've come across.
October 30, 2021
First book I've read by Alan Shapiro. Definitely want to read some more of his poetry.
Poems I enjoyed:
"Gas Station Restroom"
"Supermarket"* (love the end of this one)
"Edenic Simile" (hilarious)
"Bookstore"*
"The Public"
"Light Switch"*
"Sickbed"*
"Coffee Cup"
"Cellar"* (dark)
"Shed"
Poems I enjoyed:
"Gas Station Restroom"
"Supermarket"* (love the end of this one)
"Edenic Simile" (hilarious)
"Bookstore"*
"The Public"
"Light Switch"*
"Sickbed"*
"Coffee Cup"
"Cellar"* (dark)
"Shed"
May 2, 2018
There are some good poems and some bad poems and some of the best poems I have ever read
December 14, 2025
a book for people who reply to “it’s not that deep” with “it’s ALWAYS that deep”. i dont get to experience a liminal quality in a book very often, something this author captures perfectly by abstracting everyday locales and objects to their most ritualistic bare bones. at some points the conceit does kind of tire itself out, talking to a friend about it i said id probably quite like all of these poems individually but reading poems all of the same style and prompt in a collection can blunt the effect of each.
April 5, 2020
What I especially admired about this book of poems was the exploration of liminal spaces - spaces that are empty and so can't be seen, songs that aren't currently playing and so can't be heard, the still breath in between moments, places which exist outside of time or culture or experience (the vacant gas station bathroom being a particularly poignant example). Very very cool.
February 7, 2023
Shapiro brings to the page suspended moments in time, almost outside of time, in some cases outside of human interference, and in doing so creates such a sense of longing that by the end of the book I too found myself thinking of the spaces in my life that I have given meaning or those I escape to when the world is much too much.
November 10, 2023
Although I deeply enjoyed the inventiveness of the poet in describing and analysing moments, objects and especially locations, to a molecular (even sub-atomic) level, I was left a little cold after almost every poem, as if analysis was the sole point and the only direction worth embarking on, without enough of a poignant tether to a more relatable sense of our shared and idiosyncratic humanity.
October 6, 2019
3.5/5
Not my type of poetry but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love how he describes simple things in vivid details. There are a lot of shells to find on the beach of ordinary and mundane
Not my type of poetry but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love how he describes simple things in vivid details. There are a lot of shells to find on the beach of ordinary and mundane
July 16, 2020
If Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks was a poem, it would sound something like these.
March 8, 2021
A beautiful book capturing the people, places, and things that encompass aloneness.
February 16, 2023
i liked the park bench and bookstore the most
March 1, 2024
my digital library has a pretty lame poetry section so i’ve had to get creative in order to be able to read poetry every night. this was mediocre!
December 28, 2024
Some really good stanzas in here. Very descriptive and deep all at once. Shed stuck out to me as well as Piano Bench, Forgiveness, Shoe Store, Playground, Gym, and Gas Station Restroom.
August 19, 2018
A moving read because Shapiro infuses soul into mundane, empty things. He also utilizes the run-on sentence in a way that's thematically winding and not at all distracting. If you like poetry, particularly figuratively rich poetry, then I suggest giving it a read.
March 14, 2012
I think the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Alan Shapiro's "Night of the Republic" is that he has a fondness for place and what it conveys in the absences of unfilled spaces. I think the theme of this particular idea is fascinating - being able to have an eye view of an empty place at night and being able to see what's missing from it with the lack of activity/passage of time. Yet, for the idea that's conveyed with this, I don't know if the collection as a whole suggests this as well as it could've through the entirety of the work. The collection definitely had its moments, however, and I think it won me over enough to think well of it as a whole.
"Night of the Republic" is only the second collection of poems I've read from Shapiro, and like the previous collection I've read from him, he has a precise way of weaving language while drawing attention to details, particularly here when it comes to setting. "Night of the Republic" is split into four sections, with the first and third entitled with the namesake of the collection (focus kept to the places and spaces themselves), while the second ("Galaxy Formation") and the fourth ("At the Corner of Coolidge and Clarence") are from more intimate, direct viewpoints. I think each section ties into the theme of the work as far as conveying absence is concerned, but I think the connection/history is far best detailed as a whole in the final section of the work.
Before I get to that, I'll go through what I liked from the get go. "Gas Station Restroom" might seem like an odd choice to start the collection with, particularly in displaying the toilet residue and scrawls on the stalls ("hence, /over the insides/of the lockless stalls/the cave-like/scribblings and glyphs/declaring unto all/who come to it/in time: 'heaven/is here at hand/and dark, and hell/is odorless; hell/is bright and clean.'"), but it gives a good look into what the first section entails - a display of empty spaces conveying a sort of absence. A residual one if you will. Shapiro doesn't really delve into it in the first and third sections as much as he shows it and tries to convey the idle nature of these spaces. The poems I thought did the best with this ideal included "Supermarket, "Park Bench," "Hotel Lobby," "Shoe Store," and perhaps my personal favorites "Gym" and "Barbershop". But for those noted poems, there were many that just fell flat, like the one about the strip club and the indoor pool which didn't really strike me with any particular emotional resonance. It's more that each of these kinds of poems are either a hit or miss.
In the second and final sections of the collection, there's a bit more intimacy with a singular viewpoint taking in these particular spaces. There are times when it's hilarious, like in "Edenic Similie" where the narrator preceives a man in the bathroom singing along to "hunkahunka/Burnin Love/head back (I imagined)/eyes closed waving/in perfect rhythm/to his singing/a tenor sax/of piss - stopped singing/stopped pissing/soon as he heard me...". The images are vivid and give a sense of character. There are times, like in the final section of the collection, where it's an ode to a famous figure like Marylin Monroe ("Cigarette Smoke") or JFK. The portrayal in the latter section is more of an absence of things that are and aren't there, put in juxtaposition, such as in "Sickbed", "Coffee Cup", "Beloved" and "Flowerpot" among quite a few others. I somewhat wished that the rest of the collection had the degree of intimacy in the first three sections that the last one had, having a portrayal of the place with an underlying theme of its history and what's left within it. In a way though, it may be that Shapiro was building up these pieces and then seeking to combine them into the cohesiveness that is the final section of this collection. If so, I think that was a brilliant plan, but just a little shaky in its execution in spurts.
Overall, "Night of the Republic" was a collection that I certainly enjoyed from Shapiro. Probably not my favorite of his works, but there were enough gems in the poems and moments that struck me to leave an impression, much like the resonance in the places, times, and emotions he chooses to visit.
Overall score: 3.5/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
"Night of the Republic" is only the second collection of poems I've read from Shapiro, and like the previous collection I've read from him, he has a precise way of weaving language while drawing attention to details, particularly here when it comes to setting. "Night of the Republic" is split into four sections, with the first and third entitled with the namesake of the collection (focus kept to the places and spaces themselves), while the second ("Galaxy Formation") and the fourth ("At the Corner of Coolidge and Clarence") are from more intimate, direct viewpoints. I think each section ties into the theme of the work as far as conveying absence is concerned, but I think the connection/history is far best detailed as a whole in the final section of the work.
Before I get to that, I'll go through what I liked from the get go. "Gas Station Restroom" might seem like an odd choice to start the collection with, particularly in displaying the toilet residue and scrawls on the stalls ("hence, /over the insides/of the lockless stalls/the cave-like/scribblings and glyphs/declaring unto all/who come to it/in time: 'heaven/is here at hand/and dark, and hell/is odorless; hell/is bright and clean.'"), but it gives a good look into what the first section entails - a display of empty spaces conveying a sort of absence. A residual one if you will. Shapiro doesn't really delve into it in the first and third sections as much as he shows it and tries to convey the idle nature of these spaces. The poems I thought did the best with this ideal included "Supermarket, "Park Bench," "Hotel Lobby," "Shoe Store," and perhaps my personal favorites "Gym" and "Barbershop". But for those noted poems, there were many that just fell flat, like the one about the strip club and the indoor pool which didn't really strike me with any particular emotional resonance. It's more that each of these kinds of poems are either a hit or miss.
In the second and final sections of the collection, there's a bit more intimacy with a singular viewpoint taking in these particular spaces. There are times when it's hilarious, like in "Edenic Similie" where the narrator preceives a man in the bathroom singing along to "hunkahunka/Burnin Love/head back (I imagined)/eyes closed waving/in perfect rhythm/to his singing/a tenor sax/of piss - stopped singing/stopped pissing/soon as he heard me...". The images are vivid and give a sense of character. There are times, like in the final section of the collection, where it's an ode to a famous figure like Marylin Monroe ("Cigarette Smoke") or JFK. The portrayal in the latter section is more of an absence of things that are and aren't there, put in juxtaposition, such as in "Sickbed", "Coffee Cup", "Beloved" and "Flowerpot" among quite a few others. I somewhat wished that the rest of the collection had the degree of intimacy in the first three sections that the last one had, having a portrayal of the place with an underlying theme of its history and what's left within it. In a way though, it may be that Shapiro was building up these pieces and then seeking to combine them into the cohesiveness that is the final section of this collection. If so, I think that was a brilliant plan, but just a little shaky in its execution in spurts.
Overall, "Night of the Republic" was a collection that I certainly enjoyed from Shapiro. Probably not my favorite of his works, but there were enough gems in the poems and moments that struck me to leave an impression, much like the resonance in the places, times, and emotions he chooses to visit.
Overall score: 3.5/5
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
December 7, 2011
Reading Alan Shapiro's latest collection, “Night of the Republic,” on might reasonably ask whether one can produce extraordinary art on topics such as a downtown strip club or a hospital examination room. The answer to this question lies in the ability of the artist to reach through and beyond his subject to massage out some deeper truth within such otherwise pedestrian surroundings.
On this score, Shapiro plainly succeeds. The poet considers the space which these poems describe, but they do so much more, offering views on topics such as life, death, and emptiness, all delivered through magnificent language and often with considerable humor. In harnessing the physicality of space, Shapiro is able to reach beyond it. A fine example, “Supermarket” appropriately enough opens on the cashier by the magazine rack:
The one cashier is dozing—
head nodding, slack mouth open,
above the cover girl spread out before her on the counter
smiling up
with indiscriminate forgiveness
and compassion for everyone
who isn’t her.
Shapiro moves from there to that sense of cavernous space and the loneliness it can provoke.
The stranger part of this collection is its section titled “Galaxy Formation,” where the poems move into a direct consideration of broader, less tangible topics. Like the others, these poems demonstrate Shapiro's vast skill, often rendered with a heartbreaking clarity. Consider, for example, the following lines from “Forgiveness” where the subject drinks her tea:
Hands trembling as she lifts it,
though not at all from agitation
but from a merely
neurological event
that isn't punishment
beyond the punishment in store for anyone
lucky enough to live so long.
The language is beautiful, but I am left wondering about Shapiro's choice to marry such varied themes in a single volume. Nonetheless, it's a testament to his works extraordinary quality that I will be pondering this question for some time to come.
On this score, Shapiro plainly succeeds. The poet considers the space which these poems describe, but they do so much more, offering views on topics such as life, death, and emptiness, all delivered through magnificent language and often with considerable humor. In harnessing the physicality of space, Shapiro is able to reach beyond it. A fine example, “Supermarket” appropriately enough opens on the cashier by the magazine rack:
The one cashier is dozing—
head nodding, slack mouth open,
above the cover girl spread out before her on the counter
smiling up
with indiscriminate forgiveness
and compassion for everyone
who isn’t her.
Shapiro moves from there to that sense of cavernous space and the loneliness it can provoke.
The stranger part of this collection is its section titled “Galaxy Formation,” where the poems move into a direct consideration of broader, less tangible topics. Like the others, these poems demonstrate Shapiro's vast skill, often rendered with a heartbreaking clarity. Consider, for example, the following lines from “Forgiveness” where the subject drinks her tea:
Hands trembling as she lifts it,
though not at all from agitation
but from a merely
neurological event
that isn't punishment
beyond the punishment in store for anyone
lucky enough to live so long.
The language is beautiful, but I am left wondering about Shapiro's choice to marry such varied themes in a single volume. Nonetheless, it's a testament to his works extraordinary quality that I will be pondering this question for some time to come.
April 12, 2017
The quick paced, lilting, head-spinning phrases of Shapiro did not fit the length nor some of the subject matter in these poems. I'd say I adored the concept, loved about 35% of the poems, and fought to keep myself from skimming through the rest.
(Note: How many times can one man use the word "aphasia" in 117 pages?
Whatever you just answered with in your head, double it, and that's how many times I felt like a saw "aphasia" in these poems.)
(Note: How many times can one man use the word "aphasia" in 117 pages?
Whatever you just answered with in your head, double it, and that's how many times I felt like a saw "aphasia" in these poems.)
January 2, 2013
Wow. So incredibly keenly observed, with such loving attention, that you are transported to these places you've seen before but likely never thought to write about. Shapiro will make you jealous if you're a poet, and if you aren't, or don't read much poetry, these poems are interesting, accessible, and heartfelt enough to make a poetry lover out of you. Divided into 4 sections, the book starts out intriguingly with "Night of the Republic", showing us places we've all seen and been before, from new perspectives. I swear "Park Bench" is set on the Boston side of the Charles (illuminated like no one since Sexton). I also really liked "Supermarket", "Funeral Home", and "Car Dealership at 3 a.m." In section 2, I really liked "Edenic Simile" (set in a men's bathroom!), and in 3, I liked "Post Office" and "Government Center". But it's the last section of the book, "At the Corner of Coolidge and Clarence" that totally blew me away and which I felt made the book worth owning. Almost every piece here made me drop my jaw, and they're all 7 stanzas long, 3 lines a stanza, which reinforces their continuity. "Light Switch", "Dryer", "Family Pictures", and "Faucet" made me swear under my breath, particularly those last two. I'd never heard of Shapiro before picking up this book, but now I'm determined to read more of him. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because nothing in it made me cry, or laugh out loud (my usual 5 star criteria). However, I may regret my 4-star rating and come back to change it to 5 after further thought. I do wish I owned this book so I could read it and get jealous of Shapiro's talent all over again.
February 29, 2012
Hipstamatic poetry
Blame it on the subject matter perhaps -- empty public spaces at night -- but I found this collection of poetry a little disappointing. This is probably an unreasonable expectation on my part, but I find poetry the most successful when it forces readers to look past the surface of things and ponder their own emotional responses. Mr. Shapiro's poetry seems focused almost solely on describing the very surface of appearance. Even clever descriptions of things and places -- and he does have a nice way with words -- are still just verbal photographs. I expect poets to do more than record.
This work could have been so much more powerful had he dug deeper into the subject matter and endeavored to change my experience of them, or at least make me question his experiences. Instead, I found myself nodding along -- yes, that does accurately represent a deserted men’s room, or, yes, that's a clever way of thinking about a lot full of parked cars – as an observer of an observer. I was reminded of that that app that treats photographs in an interesting way and then people post them on Facebook. An interesting photograph of a common item is still just a common item.
It’s possible his goal was to poetically mirror the emptiness of empty public spaces, in which case, it was successful but rendered the experience less than engaging.
I applaud the concept however, and would love to see more like it.
Blame it on the subject matter perhaps -- empty public spaces at night -- but I found this collection of poetry a little disappointing. This is probably an unreasonable expectation on my part, but I find poetry the most successful when it forces readers to look past the surface of things and ponder their own emotional responses. Mr. Shapiro's poetry seems focused almost solely on describing the very surface of appearance. Even clever descriptions of things and places -- and he does have a nice way with words -- are still just verbal photographs. I expect poets to do more than record.
This work could have been so much more powerful had he dug deeper into the subject matter and endeavored to change my experience of them, or at least make me question his experiences. Instead, I found myself nodding along -- yes, that does accurately represent a deserted men’s room, or, yes, that's a clever way of thinking about a lot full of parked cars – as an observer of an observer. I was reminded of that that app that treats photographs in an interesting way and then people post them on Facebook. An interesting photograph of a common item is still just a common item.
It’s possible his goal was to poetically mirror the emptiness of empty public spaces, in which case, it was successful but rendered the experience less than engaging.
I applaud the concept however, and would love to see more like it.
June 22, 2011
Poetry has always eluded me. Although I’ve attempted to read it for many years, it’s only been a rare poem that caught my attention – Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Robert Penn Warren. It often feels inaccessible to me, that I am constantly either trying to read too much into the words or the words are completely above my understanding. When I happened upon this collection by Shapiro, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not only accessible but understandable. The collection of everyday places and things make it relatable to a wide audience, including those usually averse to poetry. The commonality of ideas, places and things is broadened by emotional responses and reactions, of course, but in a manner than feels realistic rather than lofty idealism of most poetry. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended to any reluctant poetry readers and those who enjoy poetry of the more “down to earth” kind.
(ARC Galley Proof)
(ARC Galley Proof)
April 11, 2012
Beloved
The block is empty. I'm the boy there in the street,
Looking downhill for you to turn the corner,
Out of the avenue where horn blare, veils
Of exhaust, and strangers in a hurrying sleepwalk
Through each other tell me you'll be here soon.
And soon is home, and home is when at last
Your any moment now sensation brings
Out of the day's dull glint and inching flow
The look and bearing of a just for me
Unearned, unjustified, imagined face
That's all I need, so long as it's arriving,
That's mine till your real face effaces it.
But not today, not now, not ever again.
No one but me is left here outside the house
Where you by being dead are more alive
To me than ever, you who have no other
Purpose now, no other way of being,
Than to appear by never quite appearing,
Whenever I need you, any time I want
Clearer and still clearer in the aftermath
Of your not yet but soon about to happen.
The block is empty. I'm the boy there in the street,
Looking downhill for you to turn the corner,
Out of the avenue where horn blare, veils
Of exhaust, and strangers in a hurrying sleepwalk
Through each other tell me you'll be here soon.
And soon is home, and home is when at last
Your any moment now sensation brings
Out of the day's dull glint and inching flow
The look and bearing of a just for me
Unearned, unjustified, imagined face
That's all I need, so long as it's arriving,
That's mine till your real face effaces it.
But not today, not now, not ever again.
No one but me is left here outside the house
Where you by being dead are more alive
To me than ever, you who have no other
Purpose now, no other way of being,
Than to appear by never quite appearing,
Whenever I need you, any time I want
Clearer and still clearer in the aftermath
Of your not yet but soon about to happen.
May 22, 2016
I have no clue as how to rate and review poetry. I quite liked this, that's worth something I guess.
Shapiro's style is very accessible, I would say, it is not about every word but the succession of words and the swing and atmosphere that results. Especially the poems in the "Night of the Republic" section in this collection take you on a walk through the city, through the night and with that down into human life and what's beneath as well as inside it. I loved this part, I started writing down the names of my favorites and ended up with almost every entry. The other, a bit more general poetry in here clicked a bit less with me, I still liked some but shrugged my shoulders at more.
So well, there you have it, I quite liked this, a good read and a good step on my poetry journey, where I try to figure out what kind of poetry works for me.
The absolute standout for me was "Playground": "At night, in the playground, you could say anything."
Shapiro's style is very accessible, I would say, it is not about every word but the succession of words and the swing and atmosphere that results. Especially the poems in the "Night of the Republic" section in this collection take you on a walk through the city, through the night and with that down into human life and what's beneath as well as inside it. I loved this part, I started writing down the names of my favorites and ended up with almost every entry. The other, a bit more general poetry in here clicked a bit less with me, I still liked some but shrugged my shoulders at more.
So well, there you have it, I quite liked this, a good read and a good step on my poetry journey, where I try to figure out what kind of poetry works for me.
The absolute standout for me was "Playground": "At night, in the playground, you could say anything."
November 2, 2012
I feel like I should like this book better than I do. Shapiro bounces off the kind of scenes that often couple me: sets from Tom Waits songs or Dennis Johnson short stories. The margins of America. HIs language is spare, unsentimental. And by the time I was a third of the way through I was pretty deeply bored. Part of it's the absence of people who move through the sets, part of it's a sense that Phil Levine has done all of this with a much more profound sense of how this world doesn't just happen, but is created by the political and moral decisions we make. This was the first of this year's Pulitzer poetry nominees I read. Hope they get better.
June 17, 2013
Alan Shapiro has a masterful hand for poetry. I only wish he had sought to include human life in this book. The idea of visiting various locations at night is great, and the locations are emblematic of contemporary American society, but they all feel so sterile without occupation. The occasional human presence is composed of dead-eyed slaves to the worst in our society. I've been out in America at night, and it's not the post-apocalyptic isolation presented here. But the way that Shapiro imbues inanimate objects with human flaws is wonderful, and for that, four stars.
March 7, 2013
Some of these poems really hit the mark. Shapiro can imbue the everyday with an elegiac tone that creates a mood of nostalgia. My favorites were Car Dealership at 3 a.m., Park Bench, Stone Church, and Hallway. You can see just by the titles that he works with what's at hand. His close observations are sometimes tied to memories of childhood or simply other times and places. Other poems missed the mark for me, and when they did, they came off as a bit trite. But all in all it was worth my time.
July 7, 2013
Terrific language work at regular intervals as Shapiro takes the US on its own terms at night. Many clean little puzzles left for us to solve. “Supermarket at 3 a.m.” reads like early Coover, except capable of happiness. Such amazing control in “Park Bench.” Big moments of wisdom in the whole final section, a series of poems all in three-line stanzas, all of exactly equal length, the book-as-object probably built to fit them.
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