By Greg Bem
The Wolf Moon, full of itself,
looms over this January field,
snow-covered and sparkling.
The creatures are silent
careful not to shatter the spell.
- From “Luminous Danger,” page 53
As the title suggests, poet Barry Wallenstein’s latest book is all about time. More specifically, the book explores relationships as they appear at various chapters and moments in the poet’s life, with the occasional allegorical or epiphanic narrative. It’s About Time is an accessible collection of poems, often minimal and straightforward in descriptions and depictions. While it occasionally feels too stripped down as a collection, lacking flourish and the grandiose, its direct manner charges the reader to consider their own lives, their own experiences, their own growth across age and space. It is ultimately a delightful book capable of everyday inspiration, casual humor, and a dip away from the intellectualism common in most contemporary poetics.
Those cries or sighs
buoy us up as we
pick you up to hold,
nestle and fool around.
- From “Happy Birthday,” page 28
Wallenstein’s collection is divided into nine sections, which are seemingly unrelated but connect over tone and structure more than other qualities. The first section, “Eventually,” seemingly covers reflections from an older age, often with references to children and grandchildren. “Listen to the Music” offers poems describing the lives of music and jazz musicians. Stylistically, Wallenstein pulls from the energy of artists like Hal Galper. In “Albert Ayler at the End of the Day” the poet writes: And at the end of the day / the muted scream silenced / drowned/ hush / pearls for eyes/ yes.” (page 121). These abstractions are fantastical when juxtaposed with the otherwise clear and acute writings that otherwise fill most of the book. To encounter the poet’s more experimental writing at the very end of the collection offers insight into what other works may exist, now or in the future.
One the gates are opened,
I’ll tip-toe outside,
and on a whim
choose a direction
- From “Quarantined,” page 82
It would be remiss to omit the poet’s pandemic writing from this overview. Wallenstein includes what is arguably the most powerful section, “Lifeboat,” which covers times of quarantine and isolation throughout the pandemic. While it is a strange and unsettling section given how short it is (eight poems in total, similar in length to the other sections), “Lifeboat” feels like a keystone holding the book together and offering insight, like an easter egg, into when this book was composed. Leaning into metaphors near and far, the poet brings plague and fire into the heart of the book, a shadowy center to the book’s otherwise refreshing and optimistic whole.
All readers can benefit from the occasional encounter with simple writing, and just because the poems here are simple or simplistic does not take away their urgency or impact. Poems like “August Remembered” bring the reader to reflect on the changing seasons (page 37). Poems like “The Border” ask us to consider what it is like to physically move from one territory into another (page 96). “Skin Deep” offers a subtle but engaging description of the body with all its veins and textures (page 107). These poems are broad and open, yet the window is narrow, the thinking focused, and the breath steady. They are small, wondrous gifts and there are many of them in this collection, making for robust revelry.
You can find the book here: https://nyq.org/books/title/its-about-time
Greg Bem is a poet and librarian living on unceded Duwamish territory, specifically Seattle, Washington. He writes book reviews for Rain Taxi, Yellow Rabbits, and more. His current literary efforts mostly concern water and often include elements of video. Learn more at gregbem.com.
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North of Oxford 