An Aorta with Branches: A Travelogue
Deborah
Wood. Sunnyoutside Press, $12 hand-bound chapbook (32p) ISBN: 978-1-934513-56-9
In this beautifully crafted poetry chapbook, the speaker begins
with an idea of a beginning, a starting over, and, early on, slips in perhaps
the finest October simile this reader has ever come across: “October is like
hugging in sweaters.” Readers are taken on a road trip of two companions that,
given the order of the titles/locations, appears to move from California to New
York. Surprising sentences populate the work, such as this line from the
opening poem: “Some days I believe the world is flat, wish the day/was full of
only useless things, remember I am/only a number, that flowers fall out of
fashion.” And sensory treats abound like “...and all of a sudden the car/smells
of onions.” There’s a recurrence of the idea that “things are happening”, internally
and externally, and there’s also a spiritual frustration in which “...we cannot
close the gap/between ourselves and things.”
The speaker notes that our desire for simplicity is frequently clouded
by our want to complicate, sharply stating: “But the simple explanation is not
always/the one we want.” This brief and dynamic work of making maps, making a
new life, and moving forward is sure to delight readers while also leaving them
wanting more. (March 2017)
