The Sacred Monotony of Breath Robert Nordstrom 9781632750280 Books
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Praise for The Sacred Monotony of Breath
Just read “Waiting for the Kitchen Floor to Dry” and try to tell me Robert Nordstrom is not a powerful and sensitive witness. Nordstrom asks the big questions about love and death, old lovers and the celebration of living (“Recalling Happy”). Tell me there’s a better title than “Drinking Tea Downwind from Auschwitz” or a better first line than “my dog’s a liar and she’s not very good at it” (“Good Dog”). Read these poems. These are good poems.Bruce Dethlefsen, author of Small Talk and Unexpected Shiny Things, Wisconsin Poet Laureate (2011-2012)
Robert Nordstrom's poems live richly in the space between memory, breath, and desire. Nostalgic, doubting, and doubling-back over the lost country of childhood and adolescence, he affectionately searches the past for clues that will illuminate the mysterious and haunting present.
Alison Luterman, author of Desire Zoo and Feral City
Robert Nordstrom writes with lyrically gritty understatement, compassion, and humor about the ordinary personal and its historical and political shadows a dead mother “hair in curlers,/ nibbling an egg salad sandwich/ on the dark side of a screen door,” “a shoplifting orgy/ of squirt guns and yo-yos the morning after” a trip to the altar, returning from Vietnam to a shopping mall’s parking lot, a locker room in which “we’re all a bunch of cheerleaders and assassins/ with remotes,” a bus-load of school kids … already programmed with the high and low impulses of humans. “These children, these children, these children—/ why do I love them so? Because they open the windows / on the first warm day of winter,/ inhabit their stories before parody obscures.” Listen as Nordstrom allows his readers to inhabit their stories too.
Wendy Vardaman, author of Obstructed View and founding co-editor of Cowfeather Press. She is one of Madison, Wisconsin's two Poets Laureate (2012-2015).
The Sacred Monotony of Breath Robert Nordstrom 9781632750280 Books
Robert Nordstrom's vision (like that of another great Wisconsin poet, Lorine Niedecker), is intensified, not limited, by rootedness. He is an explorer of love. One of his loves is that of place and people: in the delightful "First Warm Day of Winter," kids on the schoolbus the poet drives; in "Locker Room Gridlock," the political tensions hushed by Midwest phlegm. The poems about marriage bring back treasures:The cynic says, see, there is no there
there, only breath at whose peaks and valleys
we die and are resurrected again.
Ah, but these old lovers know better,
eyes closed now to open the view, calling
without you I never would have gone there.
Nordstrom has the rare ability to combine warmth and precision, to render grief, loss, discomfort, and joy even-handedly; his poems can depict even self-pity without self-pity. Several ("No Question Is a Stupid Question," "Waiting for the Kitchen Floor to Dry," "Divining the Future While Staring at the Kitchen Counter") memorably explore the loneliness the speaker would feel without his wife. In the first section, this sympathy extends to his past self; towards the end, to the painful lives and old age of his parents and mother-in-law. The image of a man's
.... thick grimed fingers
fingers that avoid the white enamel
of refrigerators and stoves
appears in several poems, applied to the speaker's imagined future self, or to someone else. There is little metaphysics here; particulars carry the meaning, and it is always important. When God or the universe at large are invoked, they are as ambivalent, whimsical, and guardedly hopeful as the speaker.
I admire this book. Highest recommendation.
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Tags : The Sacred Monotony of Breath [Robert Nordstrom] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <h2>Praise for The Sacred Monotony of Breath</h2> Just read “Waiting for the Kitchen Floor to Dry” and try to tell me Robert Nordstrom is not a powerful and sensitive witness. Nordstrom asks the big questions about love and death,Robert Nordstrom,The Sacred Monotony of Breath,Prolific Press,1632750287,General,Poetry,Poetry General,Poetry by individual poets
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The Sacred Monotony of Breath Robert Nordstrom 9781632750280 Books Reviews
These poems travel seamlessly through a lifetime. They take us on a journey, enticing us to reread and reread. They are, by most accounts, simple and upon further investigation simply extraordinary. The author draws us in, creating delight in what could be mundane and letting tragedies and triumphs take their place at the same table.
His poem, 'Harvesting What Remains' is side by side with 'Waiting for the Kitchen Floor to Dry'. It is this beautiful juxtaposition of death and the contemplation of the future that makes 'The Sacred Monotony of Breath' a great read.
One suggestion, start at the beginning and read in order. It makes a difference, especially as you reread.
I knew this was a great chapbook even before I read it. My first glimpse into the depth of Robert Nordstrom’s writing was hearing him read as a featured reader at our open mic event. Then I got the book and found myself sending him a note that said, “Bob, your chapbook is a keeper.” I don’t say that often. This book has found a home on my shelf of ‘keepers.’ I will take this book from my shelf when I’m looking for inspiring poems. I could open to any page and find myself thoroughly inspired and swept with emotion. Thanks for sharing this awesome work with the world, Bob.
In The Sacred Monotony of Breath, Robert Nordstrom’s gift for storytelling shines through in every poem. Throughout this collection, Nordstrom shows a great attention to detail and bringing memories to life, as in the poem, “Apprehension.”
Through the eyes of childhood, adolescence and adulthood, Nordstrom sheds light on ways of seeing and experiencing the world. In the poem, “Sudden Beauty,” he invites the reader to witness private, yet universal moments. Every memory is given sacred space for reflection, and we feel as if we, too, are, “twisting our shared history into anecdote.” (“Geometry of the American Dream”) In his poem about the nuances of mid-life, Nordstrom encourages us to “touch what you trust/ with your dirt encrusted fingers.” He reminds us that our daily lives are cause for celebration and reverence. In many of the poems, such as, “Waiting for the Kitchen Floor to Dry,” Nordstrom skillfully brings our attention to how precious and short life is, by painting a scene of what true togetherness and companionship means.
All writers observe the world, but Nordstrom breathes in the details and infuses each poem with a unique and honest voice. Poems of love, loss, friendship, war, and even the world of social media have a delicate balance of analyzing the moment, and letting the moment simply live and jump off the page.
If poets look for answers like philosophical detectives, then Nordstrom succeeds in deciphering many mysteries, as he writes, “Getting to the bottom of it. / Like a kid looking for microscopic life/ in a puddle.” (“Nothing in Particular Day”) There are so many poems to enjoy and savor in this thoughtful collection. If you are searching for insights, there is great depth and authenticity in these poems. “My Hands Are Full,” offers a final reminder to appreciate the journey of life, with the lines, “This poem is not about fortune;/ it’s about arrival, here, a place/ never imagined but always known …”
~Cristina M. R. Norcross, author of 5 poetry collections, including The Lava Storyteller and The Red Drum, and Founding Editor of Blue Heron Review.
Wonderful
I know the author personally and love this book. Bob Nordstrom brought back many memories from our childhood and neighborhood we grew up in. Easy and fun reading.
I have had the pleasure of meeting the author and understanding a little of his personality, mind and heart. He has opened himself up on the pages of this book. As I am not overly schooled in poetry, I expected to be bored or confused by the content. I was neither bored or confused, but found the content to be pleasing and understandable; even to the point of seeing myself within the lines of the poetry. A very good reading experience.
Robert Nordstrom's vision (like that of another great Wisconsin poet, Lorine Niedecker), is intensified, not limited, by rootedness. He is an explorer of love. One of his loves is that of place and people in the delightful "First Warm Day of Winter," kids on the schoolbus the poet drives; in "Locker Room Gridlock," the political tensions hushed by Midwest phlegm. The poems about marriage bring back treasures
The cynic says, see, there is no there
there, only breath at whose peaks and valleys
we die and are resurrected again.
Ah, but these old lovers know better,
eyes closed now to open the view, calling
without you I never would have gone there.
Nordstrom has the rare ability to combine warmth and precision, to render grief, loss, discomfort, and joy even-handedly; his poems can depict even self-pity without self-pity. Several ("No Question Is a Stupid Question," "Waiting for the Kitchen Floor to Dry," "Divining the Future While Staring at the Kitchen Counter") memorably explore the loneliness the speaker would feel without his wife. In the first section, this sympathy extends to his past self; towards the end, to the painful lives and old age of his parents and mother-in-law. The image of a man's
.... thick grimed fingers
fingers that avoid the white enamel
of refrigerators and stoves
appears in several poems, applied to the speaker's imagined future self, or to someone else. There is little metaphysics here; particulars carry the meaning, and it is always important. When God or the universe at large are invoked, they are as ambivalent, whimsical, and guardedly hopeful as the speaker.
I admire this book. Highest recommendation.
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