Unincorporated Persons In The Late Honda Dynasty (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
From "Wild""In Late August when the streams dry upand the high meadows turn parched and blond,bears are squeezed out of the mountains down into the valley of condos and housing developments.All residents are therefore prohibited from putting their garbage out early.The penalty for disobedience will be bears: large black furry fellowsdrinking from your sprinkler systemrolling your trashcans down the lawn, bashing through the screen door of the back porch to get their first real taste of a spaghetti dinner,while the family hides in the garageand the wife dials 1-800-BEARS on her cell phone,a number she just made upin a burst of creative hysteria."Tony Hoagland gets bear humor On Valentine's Day PBS' "Newshour" included a reading of Hoagland's "Romantic Moment" from this collection. Not sure how I'd missed him, but that was my introduction and I knew I needed to read him. So I started with this collection because of that poem. Love this man's off-the-wall thoughts. It would be quite a trip to worm into his mind to study his stream of consciousness. Unlike many of his contemporary peers who try to be uber-artsy, Hoagland pulls it off and makes sense. Fascinating sense. I think "Snowglobe" is a good example. It's just plain brilliant. Just a litte ol' snowglobe turns into a musing on macroeconomics. But he sets you up, he tells you this is no ordinary snowglobe. He turns a few phrases, demonstrates masterly word choice, and next thing you know....he's got you thinking about the order of the world. A "Cement Truck" inspires him to write it as a metaphor of poetry, (and OMG is it good) and then near the end he decides it's a mistake but he's put so much work into it and well, I won't spoil the ending. But again, it's brilliant. And then there's "Romantic Moment" which includes this -"and if I were a bull penguin right now I would lean overand vomit softly into the mouth of my beloved"Well now, tell me, where does a critique go from there?
What do You think about Unincorporated Persons In The Late Honda Dynasty (2010)?
Witty and sad seems to be a contemporary combination for poetry. This is worth re-reading.
—Ginny
Description; I have New For You; Plastic; My Father's Vocabulary
—Sann
I like these a lot, esp "In Praise of Their Divorce."
—rutkers
