Poetry Readers Challenge discussion

Generally I avoid books of prose poems. Granted, if I heard them at poetry readings, I might not realize they’re prose poems, but I prefer the ruffled margins and deliberate choices made in line breaks of free verse. Many prose poems seem to me to be compact essays or flash fiction. In Louis Jenkins’ skilled hands, I can forget about labels and simply enjoy reading. Some of these poems are snapshots of a scene, some more narrative, but there’s almost always a wink or chuckle tucked in. However, I wouldn’t call this light poetry. Often Jenkins smiles at life’s absurdity as a way to cope with the hard stuff like aging, loss, and Minnesota winters. In “The Skiff,” we share a sudden, horrifying shock with the author, but I won’t spoil the surprise here.

A night owl myself, I especially enjoyed his description in “Three A.M.”: “The god of three a.m. is the god of the dripping faucet, sirens, and barking dogs….He is a minor functionary, a troll that lives under a bridge.”

As another born-and-raised Minnesotan, your phrase "the hard stuff like aging, loss, and Minnesota winters" made me smile.

Louis Jenkins's name sounded vaguely familiar when I first read this review, but I couldn't quite place it. Now I remember: I read, and much enjoyed, his poems "Football" and "The Prose Poem" in one of my all-time favorite anthologies, Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present, edited by David Lehman. Reading that anthology and the introductory essay that Lehman wrote for it significantly increased my understanding of and appreciation for the "prose poem" form in all its diversity, and I'd recommend that anyone who is on the fence about prose poems give it a browse.

It seems you've had some eye-opening reads in the later part of 2015, Alarie. I am usually game for some prose poetry and this sounds like "fun" even if it has a serious side.

Hmm. Thanks for bringing that up ,Jenna. He was not one of my favorites in that anthology but I like what was quoted above and may give this a try.