What do you think?
Rate this book
Orbiting, Politely
A collection of 50 poems with varying themes, endeavoring to take a virginal stab at honesty… which can be read literally as well.
72 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 24, 2015
21 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
David Podlipny
19 books4 followersDavid Podlipny is an avid and at times reckless self-experimenter living in Stockholm, where he also does most of his writing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 30, 2019
This work is slightly outside my usual range, so as always, do not let my star count override your judgement of content. More on the stars, counting, and my rating challenges later. Your personal rating may well be higher. Let’s get to the good stuff.
In the very first poem, Letters and Visits, you will experience the range of a typical Podlipny poem. And, it ends with this: “The worst crime /is depriving someone of love /forever defining them as such /without questioning the sentence or the judge.”
For social commentary, turn to High Tech. Here the use of ultrasound is questioned on a moral basis.
Social commentary is writ large in The River of Fortune, where children dive for coins. This poem ends with this surprise image: “so, in order to survive /like kingfishers in a clanking hailstorm /the children must dive.”
Podlipny can do descriptive/experience poems, as in The Fisherman. Here is a snippet: “Nothing waits /not even tactical ticks perched on blades...”
Depression: turn to Opt Out, which does have a sort-of reassuring ending.
That should give you a feel for this book. Now for my star count boilerplate.
Star counts are always (for me at least) the hardest part of a review. My personal guidelines, when doing ay review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. Three stars from this curmudgeon is a clear endorsement.
In the very first poem, Letters and Visits, you will experience the range of a typical Podlipny poem. And, it ends with this: “The worst crime /is depriving someone of love /forever defining them as such /without questioning the sentence or the judge.”
For social commentary, turn to High Tech. Here the use of ultrasound is questioned on a moral basis.
Social commentary is writ large in The River of Fortune, where children dive for coins. This poem ends with this surprise image: “so, in order to survive /like kingfishers in a clanking hailstorm /the children must dive.”
Podlipny can do descriptive/experience poems, as in The Fisherman. Here is a snippet: “Nothing waits /not even tactical ticks perched on blades...”
Depression: turn to Opt Out, which does have a sort-of reassuring ending.
That should give you a feel for this book. Now for my star count boilerplate.
Star counts are always (for me at least) the hardest part of a review. My personal guidelines, when doing ay review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. Three stars from this curmudgeon is a clear endorsement.
Displaying 1 of 1 review