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Reconnaissance
"The river flows by like a giant's dream,/and if I dipped my hand in, what would come?" writes Anne Higgins. Countless moments of wonder like this illuminate Reconnaissance, a collection that is both lovely and fierce. Elegant and precise descriptions of birdlife and gardens mingle with angry confrontations with illness and a tour de force poem about a catastrophic fire in a Catholic elementary school. A poet in full command of her lyric powers, Higgins also offers us jets of language play and splashes of Magritte-inspired surrealism. An eclectic collection of many pleasures and surprises.—Lynn Levin, author of Miss Plastique
104 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 15, 2015
Poetry is very close to my heart. I read it and write it all the time. Reconnaissance by Anne Higgins is divided into six parts.
Binoculars
Like the Eye of the Insects
Knowing Again
Debriefing Magritte
Interrogations
Safe House
Her poems deal with birds, insects, gardens, human diseases, and life's journey, ending in death. Beauty of her poem lies in the poignancy and sadness. One can relate to her poem because she speaks of the quirks of life, the dead end, and inevitable death. When she writes about aging, illness and people, we nod our head at that as if she is talking about us.
The section, Interrogations was not easy to understand. It encompasses life yet it is somehow surreal, happening at another unknown plane. I had to read that section twice to understand it. I am glad I did.
Her poetry looks at everyday things in a new light, another dimension. That appealed to me.
One poem which struck a chord is Perdita. It spoke to me. Sharing it here to know why:
PERDITA
If I had a daughter, I would name her Perdita.
Of course, the time when I could have a daughter is long
gone.
But that name, the lost one, calls to me tonight.
Like Anita, and Rita, and Jacquita, Lolita, Florita, it is Latin and
lovely
but it’s lost, too.
So my lost eggs, long ago shriveled up,
and lost nest, more recently, fried by radiation.
Perdita, your name wouldn’t go well with my last name,
or the names of any of the men I would have married,
but you are the lost one,
the invisible one,
the one I never would have had the patience
to toilet train, to least train like a puppy,
to train like a stubborn adolescent.
Never meant to be be a mother,
today, more than old enough to be a grandmother,
I think of long lost tempests,
and you.
I recommend this book of poems for all poetry lovers..
Posted it for Poetic Book Tours
Binoculars
Like the Eye of the Insects
Knowing Again
Debriefing Magritte
Interrogations
Safe House
Her poems deal with birds, insects, gardens, human diseases, and life's journey, ending in death. Beauty of her poem lies in the poignancy and sadness. One can relate to her poem because she speaks of the quirks of life, the dead end, and inevitable death. When she writes about aging, illness and people, we nod our head at that as if she is talking about us.
The section, Interrogations was not easy to understand. It encompasses life yet it is somehow surreal, happening at another unknown plane. I had to read that section twice to understand it. I am glad I did.
Her poetry looks at everyday things in a new light, another dimension. That appealed to me.
One poem which struck a chord is Perdita. It spoke to me. Sharing it here to know why:
PERDITA
If I had a daughter, I would name her Perdita.
Of course, the time when I could have a daughter is long
gone.
But that name, the lost one, calls to me tonight.
Like Anita, and Rita, and Jacquita, Lolita, Florita, it is Latin and
lovely
but it’s lost, too.
So my lost eggs, long ago shriveled up,
and lost nest, more recently, fried by radiation.
Perdita, your name wouldn’t go well with my last name,
or the names of any of the men I would have married,
but you are the lost one,
the invisible one,
the one I never would have had the patience
to toilet train, to least train like a puppy,
to train like a stubborn adolescent.
Never meant to be be a mother,
today, more than old enough to be a grandmother,
I think of long lost tempests,
and you.
I recommend this book of poems for all poetry lovers..
Posted it for Poetic Book Tours
May 27, 2015
Originally posted on Peeking Between the Pages: http://www.peekingbetweenthepages.com...
Reconnaissance is a collection of poems by Anne Higgins and a very lovely one indeed! Her poems are about seeing the world around us and this collection evokes vivid images of the beauty and the harshness around us every day. She writes of birds and gardens and then on the other end of the spectrum illness and death. Her poems take us on a journey through memories of her childhood and later years and we find we are taken away on the beauty of her words.
Anne’s poetry is really about life and all the things in it. I think that’s what really connects the reader to her poetry. There are poems about traffic, the blind spot when you’re driving, and another where she dreams she is Agatha Christie. Still others deal with aging, illness, and family. These are all poems many of us can relate to and for me that’s what is most important when I read poetry. I was able to understand what the poems were trying to relate to me and in that I was able to just relax and enjoy them all the more.
I found the title of the collection interesting and the author explains that, to her, the word Reconnaissance means ‘to know again’. So she says the poems are about knowing things again, of seeing them with new eyes. I always find it fascinating to learn where a poet finds their inspiration and I think that Anne’s perfectly encompasses the scope of this wonderful collection. While I enjoyed many of the poems there were a few that really struck a chord with me and I thought it might be nice to share at least one of them…
PERDITA
If I had a daughter, I would name her Perdita.
Of course, the time when I could have a daughter is long
gone.
But that name, the lost one, calls to me tonight.
Like Anita, and Rita, and Jacquita, Lolita, Florita, it is Latin and
lovely
but it’s lost, too.
So my lost eggs, long ago shriveled up,
and lost nest, more recently, fried by radiation.
Perdita, your name wouldn’t go well with my last name,
or the names of any of the men I would have married,
but you are the lost one,
the invisible one,
the one I never would have had the patience
to toilet train, to least train like a puppy,
to train like a stubborn adolescent.
Never meant to be be a mother,
today, more than old enough to be a grandmother,
I think of long lost tempests,
and you.
Beautiful, just beautiful… Recommended for all those with a love of poetry.
Reconnaissance is a collection of poems by Anne Higgins and a very lovely one indeed! Her poems are about seeing the world around us and this collection evokes vivid images of the beauty and the harshness around us every day. She writes of birds and gardens and then on the other end of the spectrum illness and death. Her poems take us on a journey through memories of her childhood and later years and we find we are taken away on the beauty of her words.
Anne’s poetry is really about life and all the things in it. I think that’s what really connects the reader to her poetry. There are poems about traffic, the blind spot when you’re driving, and another where she dreams she is Agatha Christie. Still others deal with aging, illness, and family. These are all poems many of us can relate to and for me that’s what is most important when I read poetry. I was able to understand what the poems were trying to relate to me and in that I was able to just relax and enjoy them all the more.
I found the title of the collection interesting and the author explains that, to her, the word Reconnaissance means ‘to know again’. So she says the poems are about knowing things again, of seeing them with new eyes. I always find it fascinating to learn where a poet finds their inspiration and I think that Anne’s perfectly encompasses the scope of this wonderful collection. While I enjoyed many of the poems there were a few that really struck a chord with me and I thought it might be nice to share at least one of them…
PERDITA
If I had a daughter, I would name her Perdita.
Of course, the time when I could have a daughter is long
gone.
But that name, the lost one, calls to me tonight.
Like Anita, and Rita, and Jacquita, Lolita, Florita, it is Latin and
lovely
but it’s lost, too.
So my lost eggs, long ago shriveled up,
and lost nest, more recently, fried by radiation.
Perdita, your name wouldn’t go well with my last name,
or the names of any of the men I would have married,
but you are the lost one,
the invisible one,
the one I never would have had the patience
to toilet train, to least train like a puppy,
to train like a stubborn adolescent.
Never meant to be be a mother,
today, more than old enough to be a grandmother,
I think of long lost tempests,
and you.
Beautiful, just beautiful… Recommended for all those with a love of poetry.
June 2, 2023
Imaginative and lovely
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews