Say Uncle. Kay Ryan. NY:Grove Press. 1991.
This month’s challenge was for poetry. I can’t write poetry worth a damn, but I love reading it.
Early in the month, I was blown away by Patty Seyburn’s THRESHOLD DELIVERY. However, I was paid to read it for a review site, so I couldn’t talk about it here. But seriously, it’s a brilliant book, go read it.
I thought about re-reading Sharon Olds or Jackie Kay. I’ve found all their work transformational. But part of the point of this month’s challenge was to read work by someone new-to-me.
I found Kay Ryan’s SAY UNCLE in the library. Ms. Ryan was a Library of Congress Poet Laureate.
I’m so glad I picked it up. The poems are energetic and delightful and funny and painful and powerful, all at once.
“The Museum of False Starts” could represent any creative project. “Crash” has so many things going on at so many levels in a short poem that it needs to be re-read multiple times, each one revealing another layer. “Say Uncle” is funny in a ha-ha-ow! kind of way.
Every poem has something dynamic and delightful about it.
I may have found it at the library, but I’m ordering my own copy to re-read often. And I’m searching for her other work now, too.
What did you read this month, and what was your response? Post in the comments, and we can share what we read.
Next month’s challenge is to re-read a favorite childhood book from your current perspective. We will reconvene here to discuss them on August 20th.
A Biblio Paradise 