The Zoo in Winter by Polina Barskova , Boris Dralyuk , David Stromberg (review)

Abstract

and civicresponsibility. Thereare ghosts, psychics, a mysterious child, anda battle brewing overthefuture of theIRS: is it to be a forcefor "socialjustice andcivicvirtue" ora profit-driven entity? Mostremarkableperhaps isthelong, first-person story of"Irrelevant" ChrisFogle,a drug-taking "wastoid"who walks intothe wrongcollegeclassroom andfinds hislifechanged bya lecture ontheheroism ofaccountancy: "True heroismis minutes, hours, weeks, yearuponyearofthequiet, precise, judicious exercise ofprobity andcare - withno onethere tosee orcheer. Thisis theworld. Just you andthejob,atyour desk." ThatWallaceisnolonger athis deskisa grievous losstoliterature. Michael Leddy Eastern Illinois University VERSE PolinaBarskova. TheZoo inWinter. Boris Dralyuk & DavidStromberg, tr. Brooklyn. Melville House. 2011.x+ 165 pages. $15.isbn 978-1-935554-26-4 "I / Amtheresult ofmultiplying / Coleridgeby Leningrad"declares Russian poetPolinaBarskova inthe first poem of TheZoo in Winter. Barskova reaffirms thismultivalent heritage time andagainbyworking rigorously within hernativetraditionas wellas againsta panorama ofliterature ranging from classical Greekmythology to SusanSontag. Barskova employs a vastrepertoire oftechniques to createhighly allusiveyetrhetorically playful poems that achieve a delicate balance between severity andjocularity. WhatmakesBarskova 's poetry so intriguing is notitsintense allusiveness butitsattention toreflexive elements ofcraft. Forexample, Barskovawrites a sequence offarewells tomythological and Shakespearean characters usinga chorusto begin andframe eachpoem. In"Farewell to Ophelia,"thechorus, "Her garments , spreadabout,droveherlike a nymph. /Amidst allthisshesang snippets ofsongs, /Asifshehadn't feltdisaster," addressesOphelia's declineintoinsanity. This mental instability is latermimicked when thenarrator seemstotrailoff midthought : "Nor the hillock,which befits a cat / Much morethanit befits . . . norLethe." Therepetition andellipsis, here, represent a kindof lackadaisical meandering ofthought similarto Ophelia's "snippetsof songs."In thispiece,as withmany others, Barskova playfully turns her poems in on themselves, making themdense yet approachablefor thoseunfamiliar withher literary references (theendnotes arealsoan indispensable resource). Balancingself-reflection with allusive playfulness proves tobeone ofBarskova's major skills andisperhapsbestexemplified in thepoem "The New Iliad," which begins: "SusieSontag's writing aboutwar./ It'dbegoodfor meas well,I guess." Theopening rhetorical humor both underminesand magnifiesthe poem'sserious ruminations onwar, making herrefusal tobeanoutright war poet ("I cannot.I'd liketo - I cannot")much more devastating. In "Mimesis,"anotherpoem that juxtaposes whimsicality with austerity ,thenarrator musesaboutbird droppingsforeighteenlines and then halts: "(areyouserious? You're serious aboutallthis? /Zeroempathy ,a pinchof curiosity.)" While thisparenthetical remark collapses thepoem,theimplications broaden again two stanzaslater:"Thereis Nota Bene Ranko Marinkovic Gary Saul Morson The Words ofOthers Yale University Press TheWords ofOthers guides thereader through thedefinition, history, andcultural context ofquotation, asking not only why wequote certain things orpeople but how quotation functions inour society. The combination ofthis original subject matter and careful Investigation results inaliterary "tour deforce" according toFred Shapiro, editor ofThe Yale Book of Quotations. one's suffering at the inadequacy ofthemeansofdescription/' This linenotonly contrasts therest ofthe poemwithitssolemnity, but also with itslength, affecting a formal as wellas thematic balance. TheZooinWinter demonstrates Polina Barskova's intentionto engagetheworldofliterature while simultaneously invoking, creating, and sustaining a singular presence: 'Themain thing istomovelikecanal water - that is,notmove."Thisline from "Birkenau" echoesthepoet's desireto movefluidly acrossvariouscanons while holding firm toher own poeticconvictions. She writes witha tenderness forher mother country thatextends through every facet ofRussian artandculture; and shedemands a diligent reader who is willing todelveintoendnotes in order tounpack these densepoems. The realrewardis witnessing her purity ofbalance - theability tohold laughter and sadness,conversation and lyric, in thesame palm - and then totranscend that union entirely. Greg Emilio California Polytechnic State University Joey Brown. Oklahomaography. Norman, Oklahoma. Mongrel Empire. 2010.iv+ 66 pages.$14.isbn 978-09801684 -6-4 The Oklahoma thatJoeyBrown depictsin her collection of quiet, earthy, lyrical poemsis as mucha depiction ofcollective consciousness as a concrete place. Oklahomaographyconstructs a senseofearthand passagesthatinforms one's fundamental senseof"bodiness" abouta place and time.The poemsreveal thedesire tocreate andmaintain sets of connections - mainlyto friends, family,and community - and to possessa setofroots thatsuggest a certain groundedness thatperhaps never was,andnever canbe. The Oklahomaof the collectiveidentity isonethat deconstructs itselfthroughits peeling paint, Route66artifacts andmemorabilia, collapsing barns, rusting haybalers, creaking pumping units, and bulgingandrusted tanks nexttoold oil wells.The descriptions in Brown's poemsevokean ethosofa deeply fadedreality, ofearth-toned images, ofliving inwhatwas oncea boomtownbased on oil,wheat,orother earth-generated sourcesof wealth. Asa result, Brown's depiction ofthe ruralOklahoma oftodayis a ghost ofthepast;theoriginal pioneers, oil barons,farmers, and oil operators havean intense presence thatis,in somerespects, a ghostly echo. Section i, "I KeepSaying Oklahoma ,"is a paean to a disappearingculture . In reality, it'sa culture that dominated for onlyaround fifty or sixtyyears - fromthe...