3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Thrust of It, December 3, 2009
This review is from: Repulsion Thrust (Paperback)
Repulsion Thrust by Magdalena Ball, paperback, pp 112, BeWrite Books,
Reviewed by Sarah James
This debut full-length poetry collection by Australian poet Magdalena Ball is full of poetic thrust, propelling the reader through thought-provoking and beautifully crafted considerations of love, illness, identity, genetics, the environment, planet - and more! Indeed, the quality of the poetry is inherent even in a simple listing of some of the intriguing poem titles: pale club of wind, Silicone Womb, Rock Talking, Pie in the Sky, Heebeejeebees...
The `Black Dog and Other Enigmas' poems of the first of three sections show us:
"amnesia a fist
replacing memory with a thud" (Black Dog Two).
And then the hospital ward as a chess board where:
"two knight nurses can't force checkmate
against lone king
you hold your knees
rock and wail
stalemate" (Black Dog Three).
In the second section, `The Crucible', we see love as a relationship of maths where "I fell back/to integers" as "I watched you trip/into the transcendental" (10 digits of e). We are infected by the "skunkweed" of the Idea Virus and the "hailstorm of greed" where "the illusion of freedom/moths at your cashmere" (Hailstorm). This section also presents us with "entomologists in black leather" as insects out-evolve man in his doomed clichéd "corridors of history"(Evolving Insects) and Repulsion Thrust, which neatly encapsulates the purpose and momentum of the whole collection:
"thrust through the repulsion
turn it to love
what else is there?"
That this is not just a collection of dark moods, illness and bleak futures is evident too in the third section, `Only Rock and Roll'. This opens with De-evolution and prefers "the old way" in Virtually Enhanced but there is still freshness and hope. "When the explosion comes/spring rushes out" in Equinox and in Love in the 21st Century , "The world greened up."
As may already be obvious, science, physics and maths pervade this collection. This is not surprising, as physics is everywhere. Though I am not a scientist and may not always understand the full complexity of physics, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate its beauty. The same is true of this compelling collection. Fractals, quantum physics and quark are something I have limited knowledge of but the poetry in the language and images Ball uses are well within grasp. More than this she turns them into something not just poetically palatable but tangibly delicious, as in Six flavours of Quark:
"The sweet reds; sticky greens; cooling blues.
Like Italian ices I would lick
quick
as a kid
tongue stained to match."
In fact, this collection invites us as readers, like the lover in Echo of The Big Bang, to:
"Meet me at the singularity
where unknown physics
gropes us
ordinary matter
stretches to a spaghetti of longing
and trillions of neutrinos
tickle us without a trace."
Many of Ball's poems in this collection are enhanced by this kind of appealing conversational touch and sense of character, as in False Alarm's "Dallying at the edge of big stupid/gravity" or Quantum Crucible, where "in the gallery of mirrors/you pissed on the laws of physics". As in the final poem of the collection, Blackout, where "for all our fancy footwork/here in the 21st Century...it only takes the flick of the switch/and we're stuffed", this seemingly light-hearted tone only gives a sharper edge to the wider implications: "the whole damn show/is over". But, of course, the best thing about this highly re-readable collection is that it is one show which is never over!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poetry for scientists, November 23, 2009
This review is from: Repulsion Thrust (Paperback)
NGC4736, a.k.a. Messier 74, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici, becomes poetic in Magdalena Ball's science-and-tech-themed collection of poems. Scientific phenomena NGC4736, black holes and ice tunnels, amygdalas and the quintessential example of existential uncertainty, Schrödinger's cat, become metaphors for the most intimate human thoughts and feelings. After all the banal pseudopoetic cliches that clog modern poetry, this collection is refreshing. This collection is to much modern poetry what real science is to pseudo-scientific quackery.
To paraphrase one of Ball's lines in "Equinox," she slices great slabs of poetry from her tongue and pen. The buzzard light of dawn contrasts with the prophecy that in our digital age, the flick of a switch can doom us to literal and emotional darkness. Anyone who thinks science is cold should take a microscope to Ball's universe in which electromagnetic radiation from emotional emissions creates a tiny scientific revolution. This collection of poems is enough to inspire creative writing majors to switch to astronomy and physics. Perhaps maybe not. But Ball's verses will cause a paradigm shift.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
an incredible debut, November 23, 2009
This review is from: Repulsion Thrust (Paperback)
Magdalena Ball creates a stunning impression with her first full-length collection, Repulsion Thrust. Her poems speak of experience, wisdom, and curiosity and welcome the reader to embrace a voyeuristic ride. Beautiful, haunting, and honest, Repulsion Thrust is a powerful collection with a refreshing voice and an open heart. - Lori A. May, author of STAINS: EARLY POEMS
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
