September 2023 MBR The Poetry Shelf

The Poetry Shelf

Butterflies: Reflections, Tales, and Verse
Herman Hesse, author
Jakob Hubner, illustrator
Volker Michels, editor
Elisabeth Lauffer, translator
Kales Press
https://kalespress.com/home
9798985955859, $30.00, HC, 136pp

https://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-Reflections-Tales-Hermann-Hesse/dp/B0BJPFV3YJ

Synopsis: This edition from Kales Press of "Butterflies: Reflections, Tales, and Verse" by author Hermann Hesse and illustrator Jakob Hubner showcases an impressive collection of his most alluring stories, recollections, contemplations and poems on butterflies by Herman Hesse.

Quoting the words of Hermann Hesse from a letter in 1926 -- "I have always had a connection with butterflies and other fleeting and ephemeral beauties, while I have never succeeded in maintaining permanent, committed and so-called solid relationships."

This preference, occasionally resembling an elective affinity, for "flowers and butterflies, that are of everlasting things, a fleeting allegory" as he says in one of his poems, has left its mark on Hesse's entire oeuvre.

Critique: Deftly edited by Volker Michels, ably translated into English for an American readership by Elisabeth Lauffer, "Butterflies: Reflections, Tales, and Verse" by Hermann Hesse holds a very special attraction to readers with an interest in poetry, butterflies and peaceful meditation and is further enhanced with the inclusion of 110 full-color engraved-copper illustrations by Jakob Hubner. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library collections, as well as Hermann Hess it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Butterflies: Reflections, Tales, and Verse" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).

Editorial Note #1: Hermann Hesse was born in 1877 in Calw, Germany. He grew to become a celebrated author and the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. As the son of missionaries, he developed a fascination with self-discovery and spiritual explorations, an interest also likely due in part to his lifelong struggle with depression, which led him to study Sigmund Freud and, later, to undergo psychoanalysis with Carl Jung. In 1912 he moved to Switzerland, where he wrote his best-known books, including the classic Siddhartha; composed poetry; and painted landscapes. He passed away in 1962 in Montagnola, Switzerland. Hesse is one of the most widely translated authors of the twentieth century; his work continues to have influence worldwide.

Editorial Note #2: Jakob Hubner (1761-1826) was an Augsburger painter and textiles designer acclaimed for his colorful copper engravings, known as chalcographies, illustrating insects, flowers, and other natural wonders. This technique was among Hermann Hesse's favorites as he thought it to be much more precise and beautiful than modern reproductions

Editorial Note #3: Volker Michels edited the first complete edition of Hermann. Hesse's writings, consisting of approximately fifteen thousand pages in twenty volumes. He is the world's foremost authority on Hesse's work and also manages the Nobel laureate's literary and artistic estate.

Editorial Note #4: Elisabeth Lauffer is the translator of more than twenty books from German. She is the recipient of numerous honors including the Gutekunst Prize and KulturKontakt Artist-in-Residency, as well as holding a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Inland Sea
Lynn Domina
Kelsay Books
https://kelsaybooks.com
9781639803668, $20.00, PB, 94pp

https://www.amazon.com/Inland-Sea-Lynn-Domina/dp/1639803661

Synopsis: Eloquent, elegant, expressive, articulate, memorable, the poetry by Lynn Domina that comprises "Inland Sea" is a veritable paean of verse celebrating the elements and history of Lake Superior, along with such disparate themes as 'Illustrated Cookbook' and 'One Dragonfly Hovers'. This is a compendium of verse to be savored like a fine wine one poem at a time.

Critique: Finely fashions poetry revealing an emotional and reflective celebration of life in general, and Lake Superior in particular, "Inland Sea" showcases Lynn Domina as a gifted wordsmith and is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists, as well as community and academic library Contemporary American Poetry collections.

Editorial Note: Lynn Domina (https://lynndomina.com) is the author of three collections of poetry, Corporal Works which won the Intro Series Prize from Four Way Books, and Framed in Silence published as part of the Editor's Select Poetry Series from Main Street Rag, and Inland Sea recently published by Kelsay Books. She is also the editor of a collection of essays, Poets on the Psalms. Her poetry appears in many periodicals, including The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, Prairie Schooner, Christianity & Literature, The Louisville Review, New Letters, and others. She has published creative nonfiction in the St. Katherine's Review, Bending Genres, the museum of americana, and other magazines.

One for the Road
Randall McNair
https://www.mcnairpoet.com
Bits of Steak Press
https://www.mcnairpoet.com
9798986089515, $24.99, HC, 138pp
9798986089508, $11.99, PB, 137pp

https://www.amazon.com/One-Road-Randall-McNair/dp/B0BBZ8MG32

Poetry enthusiasts who choose the fourth book of Randall McNair's Bar Poems series should anticipate one thing in advance: prepare to be amazed. These aren't your usual literary philosophical blends, but gritty observations of life that test the heart, mind, and literary soul of its readers. One for the Road offers poems about booze, babes, and the world of drinking problems and solutions. Sometimes it's a cocktail of love, and sometimes it's a beer of busted dreams.

McNair reflects his own proclivity for the honesty of drinking versus teetotalers who eschew the bottle: "I'm so tired of/people who are sober every day./I can't understand those who are just/going through the motions of living- /they never hallucinate/they never go mad/they never puke on their bosses/in the middle of the sales meeting./They just go around drinking milk/with their steak/potatoes/green bean casserole,/they never get up..."

While AA members may reject some of the observations and reflections in this collection, One for the Road isn't written for them. It's written for the non-poetry reader who thinks the usual staid verse and its high-falutin pretension precludes the kinds of emotional honesty represented in this book. It's written for the drunks who normally don't see their lives reflected in art; for the streetwise who find the normal poetic effort alien and unconnected to their lives; for the rapper and poet used to musical interludes who will find equal power in written words that touch upon matters of the heart.

Written to offend and inquire, such works as "Prayer for a Drunk Mediocreite" defies the logic and usual progress of the poetic form and content to reach those whose lives resonate with similar threads of anger, loathing, and disappointment: "Our Father who art/disappointed in me,/what's your name again?/I've had a few/and seem to have forgotten." Even Death doesn't take a holiday in this collection, but is right there with the reader and author "...at Dot's Coffee Shop pushing his eggs/from one side of the plate to the other/his coffee cold and black inside his cup/his scythe leaned up against the coat rack/his head bowed in sadness."

While contemporary poetry collections will want to include One for the Road for its real-world subject and style, ideally the book won't just repose alongside its genre companions, but will be chosen to enlighten and amaze the younger generation with the possible routes poetry can employ to connect with real-life experiences.

Poetry discussion groups, especially those including topics rappers and contemporary artists would enjoy, will find One for the Road a unique collection that doesn't just demand attention, but promises to revise opinions of what poetry is and the types of audiences it can reach who reside outside the usual literary circles. It's very highly recommended for its unique voice and ongoing connections between drinking, life, and death.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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Midwest Book Review