Customer Reviews

The Origins of Evening: Poems (National Poetry Series Books)

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This book of poetry has a strong imagery and narrative, telling the stories of Pittsburgh and its depths. However, don't let Pittsburgh be misleading to the true themes: memory and darkness. The poems are honest, with a precise and not-too-wordy language that would block their strength. An example in "Home" from "A Connection to the Dark." "And in a voice hard as her fingers/ says 'Your dinner's in the oven/ getting cold.' Home is where/ Such scenes seemed to linger,/ Where you lost the first fears/ Of dying or being orphaned." I recommend this book to people who are starting to explore Contemporary American poetry, or people who are in the kingdom. I've read this book three times and from it at Open-Mic nights; it didn't win the National Poetry Series award for nothing (as the catch phrase goes). Its strengths go beyond their words and are as elusive as night.

Several times I was tempted to drop this book of poetry - the poems are well crafted and build on a dark, grimy side of the steel industry. Nothing about them set them apart from the general heap of grimy, lyrical, contemporary poetry. Nothing made them universal.

However, the last section of the book breaks forth with several excellent poems - the title poem "The Origins of Evening" is an exploration of death written for the author's uncle. "The Closet" is a delightful piece of letting one's life trap you ...

If your background resonates with the Pittsburgh steel mill environment, some of the earlier poems may speak to you. But most of the final poems should speak to any lover of contemporary poetry.