REVIEW: C.D. WRIGHT – 40 WATTS

40+Watts

 

There is something about C.D. Wright’s 40 Watts (Octopus Books) that tugs at my heart strings – strings that are often silent, often questioned. The romance inside these 40 pages reminds me so much of my grandparents, that I can’t help but watch the movie of their lives play on my eyelids as I read, and re-read, and remember every detail of their lives. And deaths.

Such romance, such love, such grieving, and such an honest look at life, and the passing of someone who makes you, you. Wright understands how to offer such serious moments with an ease and brevity. In 40 Watts, we get everything from the almost coy, yet passionate, to the immense sensation of longing and despair.

There’s something about C.D. Wright’s lack of punctuation, and soft edged line-breaks that make these pieces powerful, and comforting. It’s not very often that a poet’s chapbook can keep me completely tuned in for it’s entirety, but 40 Watts has done just that. You would be missing out if you did not grab this book from Octopus Books!

“Light Bulb Poem”

at 4 o’clock I am at the door

with a bare hand of snow

laughing shamelessly

I undo my shirt

we’ll pick up at the next chapter

my beloved are the words

of the rambler

if not the words the substance

the snow smeared across my front

warm to the touch

though we remain separated

as if by a chair

and I unwilling to read ahead

 

“Poem With A Dart of Color”

stopped getting the bottled

water then the paper cut off

the phone stopped buying

sunflower seeds essentially

went off grid yet the goldfinch

was back inspecting her afflicted face

through the unwashed glass

 

 

 

 

 

One Reply to “REVIEW: C.D. WRIGHT – 40 WATTS”

  1. kiwiskan says:

    Intrigued me – I bought it. Thanks for the review…

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