As for Dream

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Summary: Review for As for Dream
Review: I highly recommend the new book of poems, As for Dream by Saskia Hamilton. Many of Ms. Hamilton's poems explore the ways in which we summon, and often struggle, to account for our inner attentions in solitude and without pomp. In particular, she rethinks how we compensate for finality--in physical death, loss, and even unrequited affection.These poems show how we modify and dissolve absolutes, such as death, when we are close to it. The last poem of As for Dream, "The First Evening" illustrates Ms. Hamilton's wit and dexterity in wheedling the richness of meaning out of an economy of words. "What was to come?/There was a plank between my shoulder blades/ leaning against the wall inside of me, waiting to be put to use by the workmen/ who come at six and work until three." While the last line, "sleep while you can for tomorrow it will be morning," offers the faint suggestion of resting before being put to bodily work, it also offers potential exchange of pining for fulfillment, and at the same time, a hope defeated by time.

Rating:
Summary: rude awakening
Review: Partially its the oversized book, but there is a feeling of too much white space on nearly every page. I like what is here, but too many of her poems in this collection feel rushed and often incomplete or not taken as far as they could be taken. I want half my money back.