Discipline

by Jane Yeh

In Discipline, Jane Yeh depicts a haunting and hilarious variety of lives, from an endangered young rhinoceros to the denizens of the 1980s New York club scene. These multifaceted poems explore what identity isn’t and is, as performance, as struggle, as change, as art with penetrating wit, channeling the voices of outsiders, artists, misfits, and others. Discipline inhabits the space between the real and the surreal, a mash-up of deadpan humour and heartbreaking imagery where novelty T-shirts and lady astronaut centaurs can coexist. The poems are triggered by videos, paintings and installations by contemporary artists, animals and city life. Imaginary landscapes converge with episodes from recent history: power, resistance and the structures of oppression are seen inexorably in operation. These miniature dramas perform their own autopsies: ‘Sweet, then sour. My lips the colour of Doubt’.

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 28, 2019

About the author

Jane Yeh is a poet and journalist. Her first collection of poems, Marabou (Carcanet, 2005), was shortlisted for the Whitbread, Forward, and Aldeburgh poetry prizes. Her next collection, The Ninjas, was published by Carcanet in 2012. She was a judge for the 2013 National Poetry Competition and was named a Next Generation poet by the Poetry Book Society in 2014. Her poems have appeared in The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Nation (US), Poetry Review, and other journals, as well as in anthologies including The Best British Poetry 2012 and The Forward Book of Poetry 2013 and 2006.

Jane was educated at Harvard University and holds master’s degrees in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa and Manchester Metropolitan University. Before coming to the Open University, she was a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Kingston and Oxford Brookes universities, and was Co-Director of the MA in Creative Writing Programme at the latter. As a journalist, she writes on books, theatre, fashion, and sport for such publications as The Times Literary Supplement, Time Out, and The Village Voice (US).

Reviews

[Alarie]

I didn't connect with this collection, so I'll skip giving a rating. I seem to be in a minority. There were a few poems in each section that I enjoyed, and my favorite is "The Rhinos." Sadly, endangered species don't get to speak up for themselves, which is probably one reason they're endangered, so Yeh supplies the quiet rumination of a giant:

"We meet under the stars, touch noses
In the dark. Our secret greeting.

Our nocturnal meetings are brief, but friendly.
Sometimes I pretend to be asleep...."

I'm a sucker for animals and persona poems, but I also like this poem because it's subtle. It whispers and stays on point. Most of the collection is what I consider cluttered and chaotic surrealism, like the poet was changing the station of the radio every two seconds. I asked myself why I sometimes love surrealism or magical realism, especially in the hands of Charles Simic and Michael Bazzett. Other writers, not just Yeh, make me feel the poems are more word play than communication, like they used a writing prompt. Combine three lists: random verbs, random nouns, and random adjectives. Then grab one from each bag. Some call the result refreshing and humorous. For me, it's "would rather read something that will stay with me."

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed a few more of these towards the end of the collection than expected!

Poems of note:
"A Short History of Migration" (Our names were changed to make them easier to remember. / The monastery of our heritage was repurposed into handy snacks.)
"These Movies" (The end of this movie could've been made by a dog pressing its nose into wet concrete over and over.)
"Why I Am Not a Sculpture" (It is definitely marvellous / to be as attenuated / As the casually extend leg of a greyhound / reclining on its very own velvet settee)
"True Facts About the Herring Gull" (If a herring gull approaches you, be somewhat afraid.)
"Installation" (... To install / A shoe, / Find a shoe / Missing a foot.)

[Bodies in the Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I managed to miss Jane Yeh’s third collection, Discipline, when it was published in 2019. Only realised when attending her online workshop last month.

Just finished reading it, and really enjoyed it. Lots of poems based on artworks and exploring identity and how we play around with it. I especially liked the ‘Short History’ poems, with ‘A Short History of Migration’ being the standout one for me from this collection - it’s early in the book so I read it a few weeks ago but am still thinking about it now.

[Angbeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly kind of disappointed by this collection - some really useful stuff in there if you're interested in ekphrasis but beyond that these were really hit or miss. there's a restraint in the voice with this collection that i found interesting at first but quickly dissolves into kind of saying nothing. too many pop culture signifiers, not enough heart

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cover remains one of my favorites. Great poems throughout. Long, packed poems. Each piece feels like its own standalone novel.

[cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3.5; “mosquitoes taste our blood and find it good.” idk this was good but not remarkable :( the mosquito line has been on my mind tho!