Customer Reviews

The Household of Continuance

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Jordan Smith, The Household of Continuance (Copper Beech Press, 1992)

New work from Jordan Smith is always a pleasure, perhaps because we get so little of it (four books since his first was published in 1982). The Household of Continuance, his third offering, gives us formal treatments of various subjects ranging from fixing the porch to wandering around France. As with his previous collection, Lucky Seven, there are no places here where Smith sets foot in more than a pothole. One section, in particular, makes this a must-read for poets and those who would aspire to the title, because it defines the essence of poetry so very well:
"Before I left next day,
They gave me Ritsos' Parentheses,
Untranslated. Maria said,
'You know the letters. Try to sound
The words. The sound's the matter.
Those balks, constrictions, slides, and bounds
Are like scratches in mortar
Left by the trowel, the signature
Cut in common dross."
("Matala")

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what it's all about. And rarely has it been put so well into words. But then, that's standard operating procedure for Jordan Smith, and for this collection. **** ½