Double Effect: Poems

Barataria Poetry Series

by Martha Serpas

"LSU Press Paperback Original"--Title page verso.

Genres: Poetry

Unknown Binding

First published August 19, 2020

Reviews

[Gail Storey · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Martha Serpas's Twelve-Word Bio, we know we're in for a highly original sensibility in her new book, DOUBLE EFFECT: Poems. The double effects throughout brilliantly captivate both mind and heart. The poems mesmerize even as they awaken, as in "Original Sleep": "Wake that woman up!/Her stupor lowered/like netting...." This image made me gasp with the pleasure of contrast: "In the picture the prie-dieu is vacant/as a bar after closing." Serpas soothes and shocks in quick succession: "they mean they love you--the greatest good--/but they only break your heart." ("Double Effect: St. Joseph's Altar, March 19)  As in her previous work, her intelligence pierces the sensuous with startling images: "the storm decreates the water/And revises the dangling roseaus" ("The Landscape is the Language"). A Cajun French-English Glossary at the end of the book allows us to soak in the language even more, particularly in "Coda:To Hell, Bébé."  Mystery, wit, love, pain, body and spirit--it's all here, a stunning treasure. 

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More quietly powerful poems from Martha Serpas, with her characteristic feel for language and the land. These are poems to read aloud more than once, then to ponder. I hope this volume (her fourth) wins her the reading public her carefully-crafted work merits.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*