Rise Up

by Matthew Rohrer

“Equal parts punk rock and pastoral, [Rohrer has] a voice that seems unearthly in its ability to be detached and simultaneously tender.”—American Poet

Approaching pleasure and terror with the same searching and determined curiosity, Rise Up traverses political, natural, and domestic landscapes with gentle agility. Beautifully crafted surfaces give way to sincere depth.

Matthew Rohrer is the author of A Green Light (2004, shortlisted for the Griffin Prize), Satellite, and A Hummock in the Malookas. He has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and The Next Big Thing.

Genres: Poetry

72 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Matthew Rohrer is the author of Destroyer and Preserver (forthcoming from Wave Books in 2011), A Plate of Chicken (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2009), Rise Up (Wave Books, 2007) and A Green Light (Verse Press, 2004), which was shortlisted for the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize. He is also the author of Satellite (Verse Press, 2001), and co-author, with Joshua Beckman, of Nice Hat. Thanks. (Verse Press, 2002), and the audio CD Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty. He has appeared on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "The Next Big Thing." His first book, A Hummock in the Malookas was selected for the National Poetry Series by Mary Oliver in 1994. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches in the undergraduate writing program at NYU.

For more information on this author, go to:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/authors/32-...

Reviews

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in one sitting while having a burger and fries and shake in ann arbor….. awesome

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I tried to walk it off but must have walked in the wrong direction." Genius.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

i recognize the fact that some of these poems could be better. and i did like satellite more, but i can't help it, rohrer still makes me feel incredibly tender.

forgive me, but i have to share this last bit of "statistics of deadly quarrels":

"When the room is fully dark
I will go to the corner
store to buy a few cold beers.
No one will touch me. I won't
say a word. The strategy
of nuclear deterrence
is working admirably.
On the surface of Venus
perpetually shrouded
in clouds, the part of me I
keep most secret is soaking
in a porcelain bathtub.
And I look at myself there
in the hot water and see
that I am a planet-wide
catastrophe. I sleep
imperfectly, I'm covered
by my wife, she thinks I said
something hurtful on purpose,
she rolls away, down a hill.
Like Johannes Kepler I am going to
disgress until I have glimpsed
the co-eternal glory.
A key turns in the deadbolt,
it's my wife, she's home from work.
A new song is sung unto
her green dress and her long legs.
One pleasant summer
afternoon she stopped
to examine the shell
of a bivalve at Montauk
where a red flag flew over
the beach and our intentions.
Her face is more beautiful
than all the physical laws,
and I sat down in the sand
where her elegance began
and the waves and the blue sky
won't end. And I did not even
despair of my salvation."

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book of poems to come out in 2007 as of yet though it seems it might stay that way. The references to Romance poets are equal parts fun and thoughtful. I also am pretty fond of the graphic design in the first few pages. Weee and such to that. "The Darkness Needs A Little Shove" might win out as my favorite section of the book though, a series of small bits curving all over the place. I'm really not sure what to say right now. I probably shouldn't be trying to review something while I'm so exhausted. I'll have to edit this later.

In summation, read this book. Best book of poems in '07.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

from Rise Up by Matthew Rohrer

Sharp

Music all day on the stereo. And the rain
in the streets, it's like I'm with friends.
It is hard not to pour a glass of wine in the morning.
I am raining. A red-tailed hawk settles
on an old antenna behind the house
and looks right into my eyes
while I'm on the phone with Ellen. Ellen
I say slowly, I'm sure you will succeed
in your endeavors. Those are
not the words I planned to say.
I was still awakening from a dream of the distant war.



Note: My initial rating (10/2010) gave 4 starts; rereading this collection (5/2012)... Yes! 5 stars!

[Matthew Hinea · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When we wake up / the implications are terrifying"

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rise Up moved me.

Our house
a terrible current
manifestation of the cosmos
leaks love.

[Slotface · Rating 2 out of 5]

some parts made me feel squishy and good, or feel other things, but other parts felt like a bunch of tweets stuck together, sprawling and surface. Maybe I didn't read it closely enough, i think other people would like this book.

[Saxon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rohrer seems content putting together poems that consist of mere observations and very little insight. This isn't always a bad thing ("A man walking down the street./A man looking intently at a woman./A man running into a fire hydrant./And crumbling./The absolute rightness of it.) but having read his earlier stuff, I wish for his a better balance between the two. Unfortunately, this is lacking in Rise Up and when it does appear it seems as though Rohrer has gone all repetitive or paranoid on us--and he doesn't do paranoid well. Nevertheless, this thin collection still reveals brief instances of his quiet talent.

[Phobean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matthew Rorher speaks to me. Although, similar to most contemporary poetry I encounter, Rorher spends some of his poetry moments up in the stratosphere of metaphor, he regularly comes back down to get you in the ribs with a line snatched from your own life (how'd he get that?). His are the best interjections of colloquial speech and everyday activity into poetry that I've come across in years. Cheers for Rorher! I look forward to reading more.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved so many things about this book but the two long poems at the end felt skeletal. I might need to read it again. I really, really want to love it all because it feels so strange to not love something written by Matt Rohrer. I will try again.

[Leanna]

Not really my style, but a few lines I liked a lot:

"I wonder how much you miss me.
At night I make a little sound.
It sounds like a witch opening a birthday present."

and

"You kiss me goodbye sometimes
and I feel you transfer everything."

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the finest american poets(for me)makes the world feel new and stranger again.

[Natalie Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't connect his dots and didn't feel like I had much impetus to try. That's not to say I didn't like any of it.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like it as much as "A Plate of Chicken."

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some individual phrases and images that struck me, but no whole poems that spoke to me.