What do you want from poetry? A bit of a dream, a sweet memory, a surprising turn that takes you where you never expected to go?
Maybe a glimpse into who you really are, or a step into another life, another world?
I found all this and more within the covers of Shades of Isolation. As I read, I kept thinking Oh, this is my favorite poem, only to change my mind as I absorbed the next one. Even the shortest poem contains a world of meaning. Short or long, each poem rewards a reader who lets time slip away as they allow themselves to fall into its music.
In “The Red Glow,” the poem turns from the moon-lit snow outside where “the fox leaves no trace / across the hill” to inside where “a candle glows—” and the narrator wonders “am I talking to a memory or a new form of you / filling the emptiness . . .”
These are poems about isolation that also tell of love and mortality and change. Some are whimsical while others summon unexpected connections. Some, like “In a People House,” subtly critique society while others, like “Daughter of Trees,” go to the heart of identity.
The first poem “East/West” introduces us to the poet and her unique point of view. We see her as a 17-year-old student in Poland, meeting her future husband. We follow her through university, marriage, and work as a scientist and activist, leading to the offer of a fellowship in the United States. Then four simple words turn her world (and the poem) around.
A bilingual poet and translator as well as a photographer, Danuta Kosk-Kosicka has translated the work of six Polish poets into English and the work of three Maryland poets into Polish. With many publication credits, Kosk-Kosicka is the author of two previous chapbooks, one of which won the Clarinda Harriss Poetry Prize. She is currently the Poetry Translation Editor for the Loch Raven Review.
A few of the poems in this collection made me chuckle, though humor, as we know, contains both truth and pain. Others made me ooh and aah, while a few made me gasp in recognition. Reading them aloud, I savored the sound of them.
I have just returned from a week of reading poems with a group of novice poets. We lingered over each piece, sharing our thoughts. I wish I they were with me now, so I could hear their reactions and insights regarding these poems. I want to ask them Was is it like this for you, too?
These are poems to be shared. They are to be read alone as you trace your own steps through them. They are works to be treasured.
Have you read a poem that made you feel less alone?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book free from the author who is also a friend. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.