The Dangerous World: New and Selected Poems, 1934-1994

by Naomi Replansky

A collection of poems offers the author's biting view of life, and includes selections from her first book of poetry, "Ring Song"

Genres: Poetry

95 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

Naomi Replansky is an American poet and translator.

She lives in New York with her partner of over 40 years, author Eva Kollisch.

Reviews

[Ann-Marie Messbauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an obituary for the recently deceased Naomi Replansky in the New York Times which included a few examples of her poetry. This impressed me enough that I borrowed this collection from the library to read more of her work. Her poems are all short and pithy, covering personal, general, and historical topics. There is no extravagant language, but her chosen words are put together so well as to have great impact, sometimes brazenly, sometimes subtly. She takes full advantage of the poetic form.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

GRAY HAIRS

Gray hairs
crowd out the black.
Not one of them
brings me wisdom.

Wrinkles
provide no armor.
I still quiver
to anyone's dart. (48)

THE DANGEROUS WORLD

I watched you walk across the street,
Slightly stooped, not seeing me,
And smiled to see that mixture of
Clumsiness, grace, intensity.

Then suddenly I feared the cars,
The streets you cross, the days you pass.
You hold me as a glass holds water.
You can be shattered like a glass. (79)


TRYING TO PAINT CLOUDS

Trying to paint clouds,
I fix my feet to the ground.

O white travelers
with your umber bellies
rushing through
that blue neighborhood!
So much speed up above, I spin backwards down below.
So much change up above,
my brush is outraced
every swirling second. (82)

BLANK PAGE

"When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain..." --John Keats

My fear is this: that I may keep on being
when my brain no longer teems.
What then,
poor gleaner,
stooping in the miserly fields? (83)

[Kathy Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, spare with no sonnets here but gems that go straight as an arrow. Excellent, evocative and accessible.

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally a good, accessible collection. I found that some poems were a bit too short and insubstantial or were hampered by rather than elevated by their rhyme schemes, but these are problems that I have with even many of the most well-regarded English-language poets from this period.

[Mills College Library]

811.54 R4252d 1994