for poetry from the early ’70s, it’s nice how undated this book feels (aside for “Elegy” written for Janis Joplin after her death). perhaps because the copy i read had an amazingly early ’70s cover design, i kept thinking about this.

the perspectives make sense to me, and i like how the five sections are subtlely distinct, like five eras of a larger period time collected together but still vaguely divided. there’s a poem called “Waiting” which i attached on to as it has a lot to do with mail and a more obvious bit of humor than the rest of the book while retaining this sense of melancholy. i’m such a sucker for mail themes and cynical jokes.

(out of print, the isbn link is for a coming collection of her early poems.)