Poetry Readers Challenge discussion

Song and Dance tells the story of Shapiro’s brother’s illness and death from brain cancer, starting with his diagnosis. Shapiro’s writing is raw in a take-no-prisoners manner. He writes the rarely acknowledged emotions of grief, such as anger and rage, and portrays honest snippets of illness and dying that aren’t pretty or peaceful.
“What did it mean, the moaning? Or could you even
call it a moan, what bore no trace of a voice
we could recognize as his?”
(The Big Screen)

Shapiro’s brother was an actor, a Broadway song and dance man. Many of the poems contain allusions to show business and classic show tunes. The opening poem, “Everything the Traffic Will Allow,” has the young brothers lip-syncing to Ethel Merman while their parents cheer them on. Later, in “Broadway Revival,” Shapiro says
“I play
the brother
who doesn’t know his lines”

Shapiro is known as a formalist poet, and the forms he uses in this collection serve the subject. Some of the poems use short, almost staccato lines, placed at various points on the page. There is a tension, a sense of containment, to the placement that emphasizes the unpredictability of life and the unfairness of illness and death.
“Can’t eat, can’t drink, can’t do a
thing except just lie
in bed before the TV
he’s too sick to watch”
(The Phone Call)

Song and Dance is much more than a collection about a brother’s death; it is a story of family and memory, a song for a sibling’s life.
“You should have
heard him,
his voice was
unforgettable, irresistible, his voice
was an imaginary garden
woven through with fragrance.”
(Song and Dance)

Song and Dance: Poems

Sounds like an interesting concept. I wonder if Alan is the son of the WW2 generation Poet, Karl Shapiro - he would be the right age! His Wiki gave no clue.

I don't think so-it's not mentioned in any of his bios or reviews about him.

That was a beautiful review, Nina. Sorry I missed it first time around. I don't think I've read Shapiro, but I'm intrigued.
thanks