The Angelic Orders: Poems

by T.R. Hummer

Book by Hummer, T. R.

Genres: Poetry

61 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1982

Reviews

[Mary Ardery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read “Where You Go When She Sleeps,” but until this book, I hadn’t read a whole collection of Hummer’s. I finished the book a few days ago, and I’m finding the poems that stick with me are his mail carrier persona section and his poems about snow—particularly “Snowlines.” I really enjoy the rhythm and pacing of his poems: “Where you were born, snow comes / When it comes, like apocalypse, / And nothing is ever the same...” It is a nice syntactical twist and use of enjambment. The mail carrier poems stuck with me because of the variety of emotions from the specific situations he finds himself in—walking into a front yard to find a dozing and naked newlywed couple, witnessing a field hand killed by a combine. Also, formally they all look the same. They all seem to be Italian sonnets: 2 stanzas, 8 lines then 6. But the rhyme scheme is effectively subtle and sometimes broken.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delight to find this book--T.R. Hummer's first--in a used book store. I've long been a fan of Hummer's work as both a poet and editor, but this book has a young man's fire on top of a craftsman's ear and line. Although sometimes too raw, The Angelic Orders hits enough right notes to make it a keeper.

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially like the Rural Carrier sequence. In particular, "Without Guilt, the Rural Carrier Reads a Postcard." Another favorite is "Something about How Time Works." I really enjoyed the elasticity of time in this poem. "There are slow seconds nobody wants."