Cornucopia: New and Selected Poems

Molly Peacock wears received form like a glamorous yet loose-fitting robe, and while there are sound triolets ("Yes"), sonnets ("Unexpected Freedom") and villanelles ("Little Miracle") here, there are also many good poems where the meter is ghostly and the rhymes scant and/or slant ("Goodbye Hello in the East Village"). However, I do think Ms. Peacock may be a little too present personally in her poetry. Of course it may be an elaborate subterfuge but the consistency of the material is so great, alongside her frequent interjections of her own first name in the poems, that I am convinced despite myself she had an alcoholic father/distant mother/dysfunctional sister, suicide attempt in her early twenties, late twenties abortion and mid life childless marriage to an old flame. It's slightly frustrating because while these insights are compelling, I know a woman of her obvious gifts must be capable of more depth. Where are the great political poems? Where the philosophical?