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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2018)
AUGUST 23, 2018 // 19 BOOKMONGER Poets artfully tackle aging, mortality Can you recall the smells of places where you grew up? I remember the fra- grance of roasted peanuts whenever my family drove past the old Sunny Jim plant in Seattle and — less fondly — I remember Tacoma’s once-famous “Aroma.” Nowadays, many Northwest neigh- borhoods have a distinc- tive olfactory signature, thanks to a resident brewery or roastery or bakery. This prompts me to wonder about Tilla- mook, which has its longstanding dairy, timber and fishing in- dustries, of course, but I wonder if more recently there might not be a whiff of something else in the air — is there a particular fragrance linked to poetry? MoonPath Press, which relocated to Tillamook just a couple of years ago, has been pursuing such an active publishing schedule that it’s charming to think there might be a subtle poetic redolence in Tillamook’s evening breeze. This week’s column is devoted to two new volumes from MoonPath Press that feature the work of two older female poets. Each is assessing — with as- tonishment, rue, panic and occasional ecstasy — what it has taken to arrive at this point in her life, and what it means to be an elder. Tacoma poet Connie K. Walle’s collection, “What’s Left,” runs a gamut of emo- tions. Her “For the Love of Sunday” piece, for example, describes a nap in which she’s covered by “a blanket of poetry books.” “Would my children guess / by the smile on my lips, / I died from an orgasm of words?” she wonders. But on the opposing page, the poem “Myth” takes a less rosy view, describing a withering Cinderella, “dry and brittle, / pressed between the pages / of time.” Walle contends with bit- tersweet memories and with faltering memory, with the specter of loneliness and the prospect of death. She writes about regret and forgiveness and what it takes to face loss. This is potent work. Likewise, the poetry of Sequim poet and nurse practitioner Risa Denenberg. As collected in her new book, “slight faith,” Denenberg’s poems offer fragments — sometimes they’re more like shards — of life’s twists and turns. Her lines can be as reductive as “a birth, a chipped / tooth, an affair, a custody war, a death by fire, / a vial of ash.” But as a mother, a lesbian and a health care worker, as well as a poet, Denenberg also has keenly honed insights into “tapped-out psyches” and “our own sacred essence.” She plumbs passion and contradiction. She consid- ers unflinchingly the cruel fallout of intolerance. And on occasion, she displays a magnificence of craft that outshines the poem it resides in. Take her piece “Rain,” which may be a soliloquy on longing and loneliness, but it is that poem’s succinct third verse that asserts a timeless, stand- alone perfection: “I dream in haiku / as it taps at my window / in tart syllables.” Sometimes exultant, sometimes bruising, both “slight faith” and “What’s Left” offer words of candor and courage. The Bookmonger is Bar- bara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column focusing on the books, au- thors and publishers of the Pacific Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink. com. “What’s Left” Connie K. Walle MoonPath Press 100 pp $15 COURTESY MOONPATH PRESS Author Connie K. Walle. COURTESY MOONPATH PRESS “slight faith” Risa Denenberg MoonPath Press 118 pp $15 Author Risa Denenberg. C oast G allery and n umismatiCs “a different kind of gallery” Coast Gallery and Numismatics is the northwest coast newest gallery. Opened June 1, 2018, Coast Gallery and Numismatics exclusively features original oil paintings and wood fired ceramics by Jeff Whyman MFA University California Berkeley 1981. Jeff Whyman lived in Cannon Beach for over 10 years and taught at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon. From around the world we also offer exotic shells and choice world coins. Regards coins we offer complimentary appraisals on Saturdays. C oast G allery and n umismatiCs 3350 N Hwy 101 Suite D, Gearhart, Oregon • Wed. thru Sat. 9 am to 4 pm www.coastgallerynumismatics.com
