Review of the poetry book “Wide Open”, by Amy Bodossian

Review of the poetry book “Wide Open”, by Amy Bodossian

Amy Bodossian - Website.  

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I open the book, I gently press apart the pages and hold it there in my hand, wide open.

When we are shown openness, we are opened. When we are shown love, we are loved, when we read poetry we are invited in through the open door of the poet's home and whatever she has to say to us, we may choose to accept or reject.

I accept the invitation.

I accept the offered story of love found,

love gained,

love lost,

and I find,

gain,

and loose,

all in an afternoon,

the life altering sensations of skin,

of passion,

of loneliness and connection.

I open the book further, wide open, I am allowed in, I am absorbed, consumed, made an intimate partner to the intimate moments of another person's life. A woman whose heart is permeable, presenting not a barrier to be surmounted, not a wall to be broached, but a cup to be drunk from.

I open myself wider and drink from the pages, tipping the book up and feeling the amber glow of the author's kindness fill me. She is kind to herself, she is kind to her lovers, she is gracious in defeat, thankful, sapient and above all, beautiful. Other, lesser poets might try to impress with clever turns of phrase, yet fail to endear us to their cause by a failure in their courage to speak plainly, but Amy speaks the truth, unadorned by pretension, instead relying upon her honest, daring, and often erotic adventures to thrill us. Her beautiful rhymes and poetic structures serve the poetry of her message, while using considered rhythms, musical hooks and riffs, she reveals the stresses and gentle breaths with which she performs these works on stage.

I open the book wider, reaching the final pages and I find this meditation to lean upon:

I will dance with the clouds

and I will fall apart

again and again

each time opening

a little more to the rain

and the magpies

and the passers by

and the grey Melbourne

streets

I will not try

to keep it together

I will surrender

to the whole

catastrophe