Customer Reviews

The Kingdom of Ordinary Time: Poems

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Howe's poems are suffused with a sense of light and longing that is tangible. Stunning in their depth and for the sharpness of their turns. At once as simple and complex as life and oh so rich. These are the kind of poems you will want to read again and again discovering more about the poems and yourself with each reading. Highly recommended.

I have had the pleasure of attending a poetry workshop taught by Ms. Howe, during which I came to know her work. Over the course of three summer days, she stuck to her line of "Poetry is telling something to someone" during her coaching, and that same belief shows up in her work. In Marie Howe's poetry, you can see countless moments when the spiritual, the beyond, touches the everyday. And isn't that the task of poetry? To bridge the gap? The death of a mother, being shocked into a realization by a child's continual questioning - these are things we all experience, and Ms. Howe captures the moments in both subtle and intense ways with her words. An excellent collection of poetry and follow-up to her award-winning What the Living Do. I just wish the gap between publications hadn't been ten years!

Marie Howe's "Kingdom of Ordinary Time" suggests that poetry of ordinary experience elevated only slightly by (often predictable) turns of irony may have run its course. These poems don't resonate as does the best of Howe's earlier work; only the occasional poem invites a second reading. I looked forward keenly, but found myself let down. There will be an audience for this collection since Howe handles language so skillfully, but there is little here to startle the reader into enthusiasm.

As a first time reader of Marie Howe's work, I found the author of "The Kingdom of Ordinary Time" to wield a voice which I respond to.
While the reader isn't immediately challenged by a voice dense with the usual hide-and-seek of language/emotional abstractions encountered in modern poetry, Marie Howe presents immediate observations in an immediate, surface form; sometimes banal, mostly unadorned and with their obvious meanings bleached away. She then seems to sift that surface ever so quietly with an informed and restless curiosity, often striking a rich vein of significance which is intensely personal.
I highly recommend this collection.

I feel that Marie Howe has a special "in" with dealing with the passing of a loved one and special memories of her childhood. She covers these topics in a sweet touching way. I read reviews that said that her other two books were better and this one was just so-so. I feel this one is a good companion piece to the others.

I had never heard of Marie Howe until she was interviewed on NPR's show "Fresh Air". Her work floored me. When I got this book, I was not disappointed. She is a woman who has seen sorrow and tries to deal with life as best she can. Meditations on time passing, fears, and memories are all spoken about in an almost meditative state. (One or two poems from the collection remind me of Raymond Carver's poems a bit.) No flash, no shock. She simply tells it like it is in a way that few souls have the disciple, courage, and talent to do.