Customer Reviews

Equivalence: Poems

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Multi-talented artist Shin Yu Pai shows amazing depth and versatility in her first full-length collection of poetry. Equivalence takes its inspiration from modern and contemporary artists such as Wolfgang Laib, Yoko Ono and Felix Gonzales-Torres, and her poetics are influenced by the L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E and New York schools of poetry as well as Chinese and Japanese literary traditions.

As the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, language and storytelling are central to her creative process: "It is my father's voice I imagine lecturing me / on the causes of back strain caused by poor planning / why you must insist on carrying a whole life's worth / of belongings because there are always / / these moments of separation / in freezing rain and fog the luggage / misrouted to Newark, New Jersey / the passengers grounded at O'Hare / / temporary liberation from my possessions / the contents of the suitcase a copy / The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying / read in preparation for the end of a failing relationship," (from Flight).

Early experiences as a student at the Art Institute of Chicago and as a professional in a museum environment also serve to deeply inform Pai's aesthetic and poetic sensibilities. The collection takes its title from photographer Alfred Stieglitz' series of cloud images, which he compared to the experience of the vibrant, living sky. The poems draw connections between the visual arts and poetry, Eastern and Western cultures and also explore the theme of equivalence throughout: "the customer service agent assures me / melatonin works wonders for jetlag / and there is a world of difference / between "misplaced‚" and "lost‚" (also from Flight).

Pai's gift of descriptive detail makes the subjects of her poems accessible to those who may be unfamiliar with the territory, and she readily places her audience both inside and outside of her art: "six fish pulled from one bird's throat / ten from another; the evening catch yields / forty pounds of iridescent fish/ / scales, silver glow on board the boat deck / refracting light transmitted through paper / lanterns illuminating an inner world." (from Cormorant Fishing).

Pai chose to pursue her MFA in writing from the Art Institute of Chicago "because the interdisciplinary approach addressed her love for both the literary and visual arts," according to the book's bio information. These works often present the "poem-as-art" and create a thrilling showcase for this poet's talent. The book seeks to put forth a firm faith that life can hold the orderliness of art and the suspicion that it sometimes falls short.

More often than not, Pai turns her attention to art itself. In the title poem Equivalence, based on an installation by Gonzales-Torres, the poet offers: "What you touch, / take / with you / a piece of hard green candy / pulled from a spill / on the gallery floor, / portrait of a friend / the qualities he gave those / he loved / transposed into sweet pile."

Pai has exhibited her visual art in galleries throughout the Midwest and New England, and she has received writing fellowships and grants from the MacDowell Colony, Ragdale Foundation and the Puffin Foundation. This title was a recipient of a 2003 grant from the Cambridge Art Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In addition, Pai has published poems, translations and photos in several small press journals.

Reviewed by Jeanie C. Williams