Dancing The Waves and Other Poems

Rating:
Summary: LONGBOARD MAGAZINE Review, Jan/Feb..2000
Review: Steven Curry's second book of poems is a look into the dreamy reality of island life and the wonderous feelings that living in a surfer's paradise can inspire.

Curry's poetry keeps it soothing tone, vibrant imagery and active language constant throughout this entire collection of unrhymed verse, moving between the heavenly landscapes of Hawaii and its relaxed, underwater world. The short translations of thirteenth century poet/philosopher Rumi and unique seascapes of Wayne Levin make Dancing The Waves And Other Poems a complete product.

Standout excerpts are; "Bodysurfing Makapu'u," comparing the "bone-jarring" power of a shorebreak pounder against the "Soft curl" of the same ride; "Small-Day Wave-Play," with its calm, "Crystalline" images; the respectful, introspective goodby, "Elegy (Sea Burial); "Na Kupuna O Ke Kai," an homage to senior longboarders and their favorite morning ritual; the celebration of volcanic life in "Lava Variations"; and "Still Point In Motion," ending the assembladge with a soulful breakdown of surfing.

Dancing The Waves And Other Poems is an original opus, possibly the only collection of surf-flavored poems in print, with phraseology demanding a second and third reaading.

Published by Anoai Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.