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