Monday, March 31, 2014

The Boss / Victoria Chang 46pp.

I didn't know - or had forgotten - just how well a small book of poetry can communicate things that other writing can't.  The Boss is an actual boss - Chang's own, or someone very like her.  The Boss is her father, now laid low by dementia but once a company man with authority.  The Boss is offstage in the Edward Hopper paintings Chang reflects on in other lines.  And the Boss is something fuzzier but no less disturbing in the occasional pieces on catastrophes such as 9/11 and the Joplin tornado.  Tight consistency of rhythm and structure make this a brief, sharp, power punch.  Very worthwhile.

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