|
The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in Ukraine Mark Yakich. Penguin, $18 (122p) ISBN 978-0-14-311333-1 This bold second collection is profane, political and humorous in its engagement with what it means to live, especially as a poet, in terrible times. A former National Poetry Series winner, Yakich (Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross) showcases a mixture of dark wit (in poems with titles like "Spell to Bring Me Osama Bin Laden"); clowning sorrow ("When I apply my manhood like makeup, / Everything is at once promising / and suspect"); strident opinions ("Let the mind worry / about the logic. But don't // Forget to drag the body, / As witness, through the sand"); and sociopolitical awareness ("What about a flag of bacon? Oh I would / Not have the courage to fly it"). Private poems (on family, parenthood, sex, suicide) mediate between, and meditate on, the book's otherwise public focus, showing a softer side of Yakich's agile lyricism: "Paper, // Tell the tree / I'm sorry. // Tree, tell / The paper // My story." (Apr.) {Publishers Weekly, 4/21/08} |