Detroit As Barn

by Crystal Williams

"In Detroit as Barn , Crystal Williams distills the breathing presences and absences in her native city, its industrial decay and human resilience, its shouts of despair and whispers birthing love. Her poetry teaches us the words to the beauty that the world passes over, discovers the soul in what has been lost or cast aside. This book gives me hope for America and for American poetry--and hope too for the spirit of Detroit that lives within us all."--David Mura

Genres: Poetry

60 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[Amanda Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: Crystal and Detroit are friends of mine, so I was predisposed to like this book. The answers these poems bring to the endless questions our nation asks and assumptions it makes about Detroit are pitch perfect, answers of someone who can see the city for the complex, broken, exhilarating, comfortable, terrifying place it can be but still seek out and love its many facets. Within this tale of Detroit (and Chicago and the West Coast and...) you will also find the story of a loving dog, a daughter, a friend to many, and a poet; the weaving together of so many stories, themes, and ideas plays itself out against a myriad forms. These poems wander through their own structures, free or formal or whatever they invent for themselves, they embrace forms invented by others, and the resist all form entirely at times. It's a great treat to read this book

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crystal Williams has written another dynamic collection of poems, one that uses Detroit as metaphor and touchstone. The poems move quickly from narrative to observation to meditation, and engage the pathos and imagination of the reader. Still, so many poems seem to use the page in ways that come off as gimmicky, things that call attention to themselves in way that distract me from the poems themselves. I can understand the why behind such gestures but for me, Williams's power is in the words and rhythms and the skill with which she wields them.

[Ray Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book of poems. As a fellow Detroiter, I feel Crystal has captured the myriad feelings of having been born and grown up in such an abandoned city.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Ken White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d advise reading this in large chunks to get the sense of rhythm and music, which can feel hypnotic.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the moment the dog dies
Some last good leaves your body,
harbinger, O, you woman
without mother, father, lover,
this dog with his final sweet breath snout.
Omen, O you, lay thee down
in the bracken & brush.

Crystal Williams’s recent poetry collection, Detroit as Barn, is a satisfying read. She writes a heavy truth with compassionate, graceful lines. She hones a voice of place -- as much of the book reflects on the author’s time spent between Chicago and Detroit -- and an acute awareness of the people of that time. The collection is rich with imagery that is mindful and lamenting and fraught with small, meaningful histories.

I enjoyed taking my time with this collection and rereading several poems several times. It is a gentle book to soak into – only to emerge with a new kind of fierceness.