Teahouse of the Almighty.Teahouse of the Almighty By Patricia Smith Patricia Smith (1955) is a poet, spoken word performer, playwright, author, writing teacher, and former journalist. She was born in Chicago and lives in Westchester County, New York. Coffee House Press, September 2006 $15, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-566-89193-0 The last time I ate hot-water cornbread, my great-grandmother was still alive and complaining about the stench the burn of the bread made. I had not remembered her cooking hot-water cornbread nor could I easily draw her into my memory until I read Patricia Smith's poem "When the Burning Begins" from her collection Teahouse of the Almighty. Smith, a 2005 National Poetry Series winner, is a storyteller in the truest sense. Her poems--although personal--allow readers to enter through our own recollections of shared experiences, desires and grievances. What works best in this collection is the multiplicity of voice through which Smith exists as teacher, daughter, commentator and voyeur--often at the same time. In "When the Burning Begins," Smith writes: "Mix it till it looks like quicksand quicksand State in which water-saturated sand loses its supporting capacity and acquires the characteristics of a liquid. Quicksand is usually found in a hollow at the mouth of a large river or along a flat stretch of stream or beach where pools of water become partly filled , he'd say. / Till it moves like a slow song sounds." Smith's poems capture the reader, pulls him into the very story they reveal. And in the beauty and sometimes horror of it all, they sound honeyed hon·eyed v. A past tense and a past participle of honey. adj. also hon·ied 1. Containing, full of, or sweetened with honey. 2. Ingratiating; sugary: honeyed words. with "slow song sounds." In poems such as "Building Nicole's Mama," "Boy Dies, Girlfriend Gets His Heart" and "Scribe," Smith plays with her readers sensibilities; there are well-orchestrated line breaks, the movements that occur in prose poems prose poem Work in prose that has some of the technical or literary qualities of poetry (such as regular rhythm, definitely patterned structure, or emotional or imaginative heightening) but that is set on a page as prose. and the tension that is created between telling too much and not enough. But what the reader hears is the measure of Smith's work, which is nothing short of the same furious thunder Coltrane used to play--dramatic, harsh, melodic but always recognizable. Lauri A. Conner is a poet and educator living in Seattle, Washington  This page is protected from moves until disputes have been resolved on the .The reason for its protection is listed on the protection policy page. . |
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