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Alternatives
A fantastical collection of prose poems (thirty to be exact) that allow the reader a look into Dalton Day’s head. These descriptive prose poems explore an out of the ordinary aspect of Day’s writing. Alternatives provides another option to reality, a world in which the “you” is able to feel the beating of a dog’s heart or not be stung by a hornet’s nest. A reality where you are safe.
- GenresPoetry
32 pages, Chapbook
First published April 6, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 19, 2023
I'm giving this four stars because I think, given the quality of the poetry, it's pretty difficult for me to justify rating it any lower. The poems in this chap are wildly inventive, tightly written, and have an incredibly strong voice. If you like James Tate, you'll love Alternatives.
That being said, for me personally, I don't think this is going to be a collection that sticks in my memory for very long. All 29 of the poems felt very repetitive in terms of technique and tone; they're all single-paragraph, surreal prose poems with super similar line-level (syntax, rhythm, diction) and poem-level (tone, voice) technical choices made. Numbers 10 and 25 were the only ones that stood out to me. Overall, the actual content of each poem is wildly different and often very fun, but when it's packaged in the exact same box over and over, it started to feel highly repetitive rather than simply stylistically cohesive. I didn't feel that, as a collective, the poems were building or pointing to anything--they all just felt like slightly different executions of the same poem format. Like if you went to a musical that was all "I want" songs, or an opera that was all arias. Even if they were very good arias, you would get a bit tired of it eventually.
TL;DR Not something that I think will make a long-term impact on me personally, but if you're a big fan of surreal poetry, prose poetry, or work like James Tate's, I think it's worth spending $3.50 on the ebook to check out Alternatives for yourself.
That being said, for me personally, I don't think this is going to be a collection that sticks in my memory for very long. All 29 of the poems felt very repetitive in terms of technique and tone; they're all single-paragraph, surreal prose poems with super similar line-level (syntax, rhythm, diction) and poem-level (tone, voice) technical choices made. Numbers 10 and 25 were the only ones that stood out to me. Overall, the actual content of each poem is wildly different and often very fun, but when it's packaged in the exact same box over and over, it started to feel highly repetitive rather than simply stylistically cohesive. I didn't feel that, as a collective, the poems were building or pointing to anything--they all just felt like slightly different executions of the same poem format. Like if you went to a musical that was all "I want" songs, or an opera that was all arias. Even if they were very good arias, you would get a bit tired of it eventually.
TL;DR Not something that I think will make a long-term impact on me personally, but if you're a big fan of surreal poetry, prose poetry, or work like James Tate's, I think it's worth spending $3.50 on the ebook to check out Alternatives for yourself.
April 20, 2017
You wanted a new home. No. You wanted to be a new home. & so you are.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews