Midland.

Midland by Kwame Dawes Ohio University Press, February 2001, $24.95, ISBN 0-8214-1355-4

Kwame Dawes' Midland is more than a book of poetry. His words are compiled in a way that transcends his traveled experiences in the world, and conveys a strong personal testament of the world. His book is divided into four sections, representing Africa, the Caribbean, England and the Southern United States. Each section draws us in through never ending images that play with language on various levels. One level is the construction of his poems and the way they are laid on paper. His words are not just words to be read for the sake of reading them. Each word is deliberately placed and spaced; they become designs.

Midland is indeed complex because every poem and every line says so much. They speak in an active voice, and that active voice does not offer simple verbs:

   I-Roy rides the gap
   Where the sax used to rest
   And the bass talking
   To the Royal man who
   Can turn a rhyme into sacredness

Kwame's work is rich in text but can be difficult if you look away for even a short moment. He means to be thought provoking in his voice and rhythm. His way of storytelling moves us from one poem to the next and takes us on a journey through vivid images. Definitely a worth while trip!

Traci Currie is a doctoral student at Ohio University.