Mercurochrome

Keep you dictionary close by, or a Wikipedia page up- hardly a poem went by that I didn't have to look something up or Google an arcane reference. But I think it's worth it. It's too vague a description perhaps but I love the rhythm of Coleman's poems, the way they flow down a page. Granted, you don't always know what you just "flowed" out of or into. She has this way, as do many poets, of saying something beautifully unintelligible; I frequently had the idea of a tapping her foot impatiently while a child completed a task, the task in this case being the deciphering of what was being said in the poem. But again- generally worth it. Poems like "south central los angeles deathtrip 1982", a series of vignettes about police brutality and corruption, and "amnesia fugue" are long, passionate, poems full of terrific imagery. One of my favorite lines in "amnesia fugue," which alternately addresses the speaker's father and an unnamed lover is those tracks laid out from feet to horizon spread your legs across them, cup your breasts straddle the impact Nice. Another fave of mine is "The Words are Still Burning" in which the speaker tells off a cousin who is well-educated but uppity, someone who imagines himself a social commentator while doing nothing to help society: it doesn't take a degree in particle physics to understand social injustice thirty years of schmoozing over a chessboard, empty rhetoric and chasing pu--y has not improved your posture... in your last incarnation you were pootbutt.in this one, you are merely a poot (ll. 2-6, 9-10) what you carry between your thighs is not a sacred truth, but an integrity so minute it can't even be detected with a magnifying glass (ll. 11-13) how dare you complain that "little has changed"- because in your cowardice you have not changed it... (ll. 29-30) Not a bad read. There are many many diamonds in this rough if you'll dig. I'm betting the book is actually more of a gem than I have the patience to expound upon; my copy is all marked up with stars for emphasis, underlines, and copious footnotes from Wiki & Websters. "anything worth having is worth working on and waiting for" -Betty Wright, "no pain, no gain" (or your momma, probably) Kakalak 2006: An Anthology of Carolina Poets

Ms. Coleman's powerful collection MERCUROCHROME has just been nominated for the National Book Award in poetry. Quite an honor. Her last collection of poetry, BATHWATER WINE (Black Sparrow, 1998) won the 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, and her memoir LOVE-INS WITH NIETZSCHE (Wake Up Heavy, 2000) was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. It seems the literary world is standing up and taking note of one of our greatest modern poets.

Wanda Coleman has been publishing with Black Sparrow Press for nearly 25 years, which is amazing since she's only 55, and looks much younger than that. Even more amazing than the devotion she and BSP share, is the strength and vitality encompassed in each new volume they produce together. MERCUROCHROME, her latest, may be in fact her best. It is not too long, as the review above would suggest (her last collection of poems is nearly three years old now so there's plenty to print), nor is the power diluted. On the contrary, Coleman's voice is as strong as ever. And as diverse. I don't know if I've ever read a collection of sonnets or transliterations of mainly dead-white guys, that was so compelling. This book is as red-hot as the title suggests. Huzzah Wanda Coleman! P.S. I also wanted to praise the wonderful cover design by Barbara Martin on this, and so many other Black Sparrow books.