The Niche Narrows: New and Selected Poems

Rating:
Summary: An excellent collection by a master poet
Review: Samuel Menashe is one our best poets, and this new collection displays some of his best work. Each poem is a well crafted gem.

Rating:
Summary: These poems are stark and spiritual -- riveting.
Review: The poetic analog of Shaker furniture -- spare but powerful.

Rating:
Summary: Working Close to the Spiritual Bone
Review: There is a strong minimalist tradition in post-modern American poetry, and interestingly enough, three of the strongest practioners of this genre derive their themes, their cadences, their language from Judeo-Christian backgrounds. They are Robert Lax, David Jaffin, and Samuel Menashe. Of the three, Menashe is the most subtle, juggling rhyme in his miniatures so that flashes of song accompany the illuminations of the best work. Lax is also musical, but in a slower, more hypnotic, manner. Lax is also an abstractionist, while Menashe retains his focus on the telling detail, no matter how tight the frame in which he works.

I'll include two of my favorites:

Dominion

Stare at the sea
you on your chair
sinking in sand,
Command the waves
to stand like cliffs,
Lift up your hand.

This deceptively simple poem is underpinned by a constellation of Biblical references. See how many you can find!

Also, what appears to be Menashe's motto:

A-
round
my neck
an amu-
let
Be-
tween
my eyes
a star
A
ring
in my
nose
and a
gold
chain
to
Keep me
where
You
are
*

The design of Ed Foster's Talisman House edition is superb. Type-set and paper make this a lovely book to own, and the price is just right!


Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: There is no one like Samuel Menashe. He is one of the very very few truly original voices in poetry. His poems are extremely short, and every syllable counts. He is evocative, mystical, eternal; he finds the essence of everything he touches. Absolutely stunning.