Customer Reviews

The Weave Room (Phoenix Poets)

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The review by Kirkus (above) misses an essential point about Michael Chitwood's "The Weave Room." While readers of Philip Levine will recognize the presence of an American voice, they will also note that while Levine speaks of the influence of place on the people he writes about, Chitwood takes on the more difficult task of showing the influence of the people on the place.

It is the people who make the weave room and the other parts of the plant what they are. They are the blood, the nerves, the sense organs. This is, in part, because cloth is such a tactile thing, even when made by giant, ever-running looms. Michael Chitwood's people are in that cloth in contrast to Levine's characters, shut out from the transmissions and body panels.

The marvel of this writing is that it can convey a world the reader doesn't know through characters that the reader knows instinctively.

This is well-written, powerful poetry, and it does what good poetry should do - it gives the reader new eyes, new thoughts and new hope for what words can do.

I really like the poetry of Philip Levine and I'd unrervedly recommend this book to any readers who share my enthusiasm.