Poetry Readers Challenge discussion

Kevin Young came into his talent quite young. This is his first or second book. As such, though the style and perception is mature, the subject matter is a young man's subject matter. He is looking back onto his formative years and experiences and paying tribute to his elders. All of these things are done with a pleasant generosity of spirit. His short-lined style makes for quick, smooth reading as well. So this is a pleasant if not spectacular reading. There is just enough insight and movement within some of the poems to make me favorably inclined to pick up another book by him if it crossed my path. I'm sure he only improved with as he matured. My favorite poem in this collection was "Miss Lucille." Here is an excerpt:

she preserved it all
in jars of vinegar
or placed it deep

in the icebox who could afford
what bloomed out of season
her fists only know how quickly

the children grew tired
of the rhubarb that winter
often brings

so she picked and pickled
and put away whatever it was
she thought to save working on

There's some spacing that can't be duplicated here that sort of stands in for or implies punctuation in places.

For those interested in political poetry, he also has a poem about his father's participation in a demonstration titled "Southern University, 1962." I realized it was the only poem I've ever read that is actually a description of a protest. It's well done, especially considering that it's a second hand account.

That pickling metaphor is intriguing. And, come to think of it, I've never read a verse description of a protest, either -- very strange, given that protests are so essential to the fabric of American culture...

It's definitely a poem about preserving and repressing instead of living but is none the less a tribute to the woman's endurance.

As for protest poetry: maybe it's hard to write about a communal experience. A different mood but also communal would being part of the audience of a rock concert yet I've never read a poem about that either.