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The Intangibles
Equi’s poems insist that despite the fact that most of our everyday reality has been rendered accountable and computable, there is still a region of experience that escapes our GPS-mapped consciousness—an intangible realm where poetry is still possible.
- GenresPoetry
112 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 22, 2019
In "The Intangibles," Equi writes “These days all objects are antiques,” and while the poems in this collection interface (or interfaith) with our robotically enhanced selves, they keep an ear open to the “Strange Melody” of folktales and myth--our ancient touchstones--that resonate through many of the poems, such as in “Deep in the Rectangular Forest” in which our social media stories are viewed through the language and lens of oral fairy tales,
“We flitted from screen to screen,
We pollinated the mostly mediocre content
With an innocuous brand of wit.
Left to our own devices we’d eavesdrop
On conversations around the world,
If something was unpleasant we’d delete it.”
Equi is a wide-eyed urbane poet. As true of most great poets, she invites us to see our common world anew, as in “Like Banners, My T-Shirts Hang” or “Early Surveillance Systems,” in which she writes, “The Egyptians painted eyes everywhere.” Her skewed perceptions are hilarious and lingually dexterous, as in “Monogrammed Aspirin,” The “Cadillac of aspirin” “stamped with E,” the poet’s monogram.
This collection is classic Equi—her humor stems from insight, her playfulness from a spirit of adventure. The poems are joyfully unpredictable with stunning images and carefully crafted poetic materials. Her poems are like (quoting from “The Opening”) slivers of moon/ slipped like a letter/ under the door.
“We flitted from screen to screen,
We pollinated the mostly mediocre content
With an innocuous brand of wit.
Left to our own devices we’d eavesdrop
On conversations around the world,
If something was unpleasant we’d delete it.”
Equi is a wide-eyed urbane poet. As true of most great poets, she invites us to see our common world anew, as in “Like Banners, My T-Shirts Hang” or “Early Surveillance Systems,” in which she writes, “The Egyptians painted eyes everywhere.” Her skewed perceptions are hilarious and lingually dexterous, as in “Monogrammed Aspirin,” The “Cadillac of aspirin” “stamped with E,” the poet’s monogram.
This collection is classic Equi—her humor stems from insight, her playfulness from a spirit of adventure. The poems are joyfully unpredictable with stunning images and carefully crafted poetic materials. Her poems are like (quoting from “The Opening”) slivers of moon/ slipped like a letter/ under the door.
January 6, 2021
Elaine is not a nostalgic poet, but more like a wise teacher, a reminiscent who stands for a technology-free, old mode of being, that is - an undivided, uncollapsed, and intentionally full experience of living. In "the Here and Nowness of Then" she says,
"people knew toohow to inhabit a moment,
even while daydreaming, all the way to the far edges.
Love meant you wanted
to be alone with someone.
That almost never happens anymore."
I really enjoyed reading her poems. She is like a wise grandmother telling me some advice on how to live, even if it is hopeless in our culture of constant technological engagement, with little time for daydreaming or running down a wayward path of thoughts/ideas.
"people knew toohow to inhabit a moment,
even while daydreaming, all the way to the far edges.
Love meant you wanted
to be alone with someone.
That almost never happens anymore."
I really enjoyed reading her poems. She is like a wise grandmother telling me some advice on how to live, even if it is hopeless in our culture of constant technological engagement, with little time for daydreaming or running down a wayward path of thoughts/ideas.
August 11, 2020
So playful and meditative. I've been reading through Equi's collections this calendar year, and every book is so full of joy and curiosity, reflection and wonder. She masterfully dances with white space, toeing between the narrative and the lyric with a voice all her own.
September 18, 2020
https://newpagesblog.com/2020/07/30/w...
Here is my review of The Intangibles, please check it out above. Equi is a great poet. It was fun to delve into this book.
Here is my review of The Intangibles, please check it out above. Equi is a great poet. It was fun to delve into this book.
November 16, 2021
Interesting but not groundbreaking. I really liked a few poems.
Read
December 30, 2023fresh, playful, uncompromising
December 31, 2020
One of her best to date!
June 15, 2023
Reviewed by Elizabeth Mosolovich on www.rowanglassworks.org.
The word “intangible” means “unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence.” Elaine Equi’s newest collection of poetry, The Intangibles, is an ode to writers and writing itself, that thing which cannot be grasped but is full of life and creativity and which all writers try to bend to their will, or else let themselves be consumed. Infusing her respect for past writers and the writerly craft, Equi’s simple, well-crafted prose brings the reader on a historical and literary journey, where the influence of and appreciation for past poets enhance the depth of her work.
Many of the poems in this collection mention famous poets, such as Wallace Stevens and James Schuyler. “The Americans, Part Two” is an homage to Frank O’hara’s The Americans. “Ode to Weird” celebrates the weirdness of Emily Dickinson and Fernando Pessoa and their writing, claiming that “All poets are weird / even when their poems / try to appear normal.” In her author’s note at the end of the book, Equi explains how she drew on older poets for inspiration, saying that “Jerome in Ten” — which is written as an acrostic — was inspired by Jonathan Williams’ “Acrosticals,” and that “Larry Eigner: In His Own Words” is written entirely from lines or parts of lines from Eigner’s poems. Equi bonds with these poets and their art, and through her allusions and inspirations, Equi revitalizes the poets’ work and urges her readers to bond with them, too.
Equi doesn’t only praise the poets that have come before her; she also gives insight to her own writing. In the aptly named “Why,” Equi explains the reasons why she writes: to embellish facts, to create a body of work, to “spite an old nun,” to speak with the dead, and because “certain combinations of words really are magical.” The poems “If I Weren’t a Poet, I’d Be a Pharmacist” and “If I Weren’t a Poet, I’d Be a Bouncer” describe fantasy jobs that Equi would have if she weren’t a poet, but that ultimately lead her back to the joy and creativity of the written word, and her happiness at being a poet.
This theme of writing touches almost all the poems in this collection, such as “Faces,” which is a beautiful description of watching people’s expressions change; the poet includes the lines: “speed-reading the air / a poem only she / seems aware of.” Three poems that follow one another, “The Magnificent Seven,” “For Years, I Suffered from a Strange Melody,” and “Alive with Myth” incorporate fairytale imagery and make allusions to several old tales, folklore, and pieces of history, acknowledging and celebrating the role that stories and writing play in our culture and our everyday lives.
As children, we are unable to understand abstract concepts like love or time or joy; we learn about these things as we grow and experience them. In The Intangibles, Elaine Equi takes her readers on this journey, honoring with elegant prose the intangible, timeless beauty of writing. By reintroducing the world to notable poets such as James Schuyler, Frank O’Hara, and Jonathan Williams, she draws on their work to richen her own. The Intangibles is a proud celebration of writing and writers past, including Equi herself, and an invitation for others to appreciate them as well.
The word “intangible” means “unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence.” Elaine Equi’s newest collection of poetry, The Intangibles, is an ode to writers and writing itself, that thing which cannot be grasped but is full of life and creativity and which all writers try to bend to their will, or else let themselves be consumed. Infusing her respect for past writers and the writerly craft, Equi’s simple, well-crafted prose brings the reader on a historical and literary journey, where the influence of and appreciation for past poets enhance the depth of her work.
Many of the poems in this collection mention famous poets, such as Wallace Stevens and James Schuyler. “The Americans, Part Two” is an homage to Frank O’hara’s The Americans. “Ode to Weird” celebrates the weirdness of Emily Dickinson and Fernando Pessoa and their writing, claiming that “All poets are weird / even when their poems / try to appear normal.” In her author’s note at the end of the book, Equi explains how she drew on older poets for inspiration, saying that “Jerome in Ten” — which is written as an acrostic — was inspired by Jonathan Williams’ “Acrosticals,” and that “Larry Eigner: In His Own Words” is written entirely from lines or parts of lines from Eigner’s poems. Equi bonds with these poets and their art, and through her allusions and inspirations, Equi revitalizes the poets’ work and urges her readers to bond with them, too.
Equi doesn’t only praise the poets that have come before her; she also gives insight to her own writing. In the aptly named “Why,” Equi explains the reasons why she writes: to embellish facts, to create a body of work, to “spite an old nun,” to speak with the dead, and because “certain combinations of words really are magical.” The poems “If I Weren’t a Poet, I’d Be a Pharmacist” and “If I Weren’t a Poet, I’d Be a Bouncer” describe fantasy jobs that Equi would have if she weren’t a poet, but that ultimately lead her back to the joy and creativity of the written word, and her happiness at being a poet.
This theme of writing touches almost all the poems in this collection, such as “Faces,” which is a beautiful description of watching people’s expressions change; the poet includes the lines: “speed-reading the air / a poem only she / seems aware of.” Three poems that follow one another, “The Magnificent Seven,” “For Years, I Suffered from a Strange Melody,” and “Alive with Myth” incorporate fairytale imagery and make allusions to several old tales, folklore, and pieces of history, acknowledging and celebrating the role that stories and writing play in our culture and our everyday lives.
As children, we are unable to understand abstract concepts like love or time or joy; we learn about these things as we grow and experience them. In The Intangibles, Elaine Equi takes her readers on this journey, honoring with elegant prose the intangible, timeless beauty of writing. By reintroducing the world to notable poets such as James Schuyler, Frank O’Hara, and Jonathan Williams, she draws on their work to richen her own. The Intangibles is a proud celebration of writing and writers past, including Equi herself, and an invitation for others to appreciate them as well.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews