Generous Peril By Alan Elyshevitz

Generous Peril  By Alan Elyshevitz

Generous Peril By Alan Elyshevitz

There’s a great deal of variety in these new poems by Elyshevitz. The opening poem, “My Wife is Shrinking” is a look at women losing size or shrinking juxtaposed with workmen and how they get through the job. Quite the comparisons!

Amazon USA      

“Generous Peril”

By Alan Elyshevitz

71 pages

ISBN: 978-93-90601-85-1

Cyberwit

www.cyberwit.net

Copyright 2021

 

Review by LB Sedlacek

 

There’s a great deal of variety in these new poems by Elyshevitz.  The opening poem, “My Wife is Shrinking” is a look at women losing size or shrinking juxtaposed with workmen and how they get through the job.  Quite the comparisons!

 

The range in this new collection is impressive.  This line “More and more, I notice your gravity, /

a melancholy tilt toward the equator” from the poem “Late Summer” shows you the flavor of the poems, and the possibilities. 

 

From the poem “The Engine”:

“Tutoring me on the parts

of this engine you lull me

to sleep like religion”

 

This poet seems to have the gift of taking one thing and turning it into another, or taking the reader down a path way different than may be expected.  He’s not afraid to tackle any subject, or so it seems, and he’s not afraid to try something new.

 

The poems are exceptional.  They are smart and imaginative.  Each one is peppered by something interesting and complex.

 

Poetry by its nature can seem contrite or dull, but Elyshevitz’s lines promise us an inside look at how a good poem really ticks.  He’s got great process.

 

You could read these poems every day.  They have a willingness to lead you to more.  And, it’s good for the reader to see, feel, think more about a  poem than what at first may seem to be there.

 

Here’s another line to illustrate his gifts as a poet:  “When I was a boy, rat poison was a quaint way out /

of bankruptcy” from the poem “Another Fraudulent Memoir.”  A good opening, and then the poem goes in quite another way which makes it seem like an intense skirmish of words.

 

Quite a lot of these poems have been previously published in several different journals and zines.  They hinge together well in the way the author has placed them in the book. 

 

From the poem “The Greenland Vikings”:

“The Greenland Vikings wandered far from home,

conquering their head colds,

driven by an appetite for wood.

Their sleep was flat and leaden like the sea;

their wives were calm and broken in.”

 

It takes some smarts to tackle the Vikings in a poem.  He also covers such subjects as Brazil, bread, the Homestead Act, Christmas Eve and the Monroe Doctrine and oh yes friendship, airports and ampersands.  It really will keep the reader wanting to read because you just won’t know what to expect next.

 

Elyshevitz ends his poetry book with the poem “Theory of Everything.”  This is the opening line:  “Imagine a point of light, the hothouse of creation.”  That says it all, imagine how you think a book of poetry should be written and you will find “Generous Peril.”  This is superior poetry.

 

~LB Sedlacek is the author of the poetry collections “I’m No ROBOT,” “Words and Bones,” “Simultaneous Submissions,” “The Adventures of Stick People on Cars,” and “The Poet Next Door.”  Her first short story collection came out last year entitled “Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories.”  Her mystery novel “The Glass River” was nominated for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.  She writes poetry reviews for “The Poetry Market Ezine” www.thepoetrymarket.com  You can find out more about her at www.lbsedlacek.com