The speaker in this extraordinary collection finds herself multiply dislocated: from her childhood in California, from her families roots in Mexico, from a dying parent, from her prior self. The world is always in motion - both toward and away from us-and it is also full of risk: from sharks unexpectedly lurking beneath estuarial rivers to the dangers of New York City, where, as Limon reminds us, even rats find themselves trapped by the garbage cans they've crawled into. In such a world, how should one proceed? Throughout Sharks in the Rivers, Limon suggests that we must cleave to the world as it "keep s] opening before us," for, if we pay attention, we can be one with its complex, ephemeral, and beautiful strangeness. Loss is perpetual, and each person's mouth "is the same / mouth as everyone's, all trying to say the same thing." For Limon, it's the saying-individual and collective - that transforms each of us into "a wound overcome by wonder," that allows "the wind itself" to be our "own wild whisper."
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[We'll say unbelievable things / to each other in the early morning - SHARKS IN THE RIVERS]***
(Milkweed Editions, 1 October 2010, 96 pages, ebook, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs)
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So The National Poetry Library has introduced me to another fantastic new poet. I chose to read this because I liked the title and image on the front cover. Behind the front cover I found an impressive array of poems. The poems in this collection are vivid, beautiful and even haunting at times. There is a long 12-page poem, Fifteen Balls of Feathers which completely blew me away. These poems will stay with me for a long time. I will read more of Limon's work.
