I’ve been reading Lucktown by South Carolina poet Bryan Penberthy once again. Pen’s collection won the National Poetry Review Book Prize for 2007. It is, in short, spectacular.
I had the privilege of virtually meeting Pen nearly 8 years ago via our shared interest in sports text simulations (most notably, Front Office Football and Out of the Park Baseball — which I’ll probably discuss eventually…just not today), and later competed against him in the Front Office Baseball League. He’s a much better poet than a fake baseball manager.
This collection makes me want to quit my job and starve to death trying to write poetry somewhere in the Midwest. It’s like falling into a pool of sad beauty and trying to drown. So gentle, so melancholy, so wary and yet not world-worn yet. It’s the voice of a guy looking for hope, and though he knows it doesn’t exist, he has the courage to keep searching anyway.
I swear that I’m not going to be pimping shit in this space very often, but if you miss Lucktown, you’re a tool.
Filed under: Poetry
I AM A BIG FAN OF POETRY AND THIS BOOK IT POETRY AT ITS FINESTS!
Poetry is like a soul massage, and an entire book full of poetry is like a massage that lasts for days. Of course you’re allowed to take breaks and stuff during this multiple day massage, and there’s no requirement to continue the massage if you feel all massaged out, you’re free to leave at any time. Are you sure you want to leave though? The people doing the massages are experts and there generally is a long waiting list for this kind of treatment. The cost? The entire 6 day massage package runs between 10-20 thousand dollars, depending on the extras you request. These extras must be agreed to before the start of the multiple day massage. Or you can just get this book. That seems a lot easier actually.
- Buddy