Reading and Making 'Metaphor Poems' by Simile & Rhyme
“Formal poems by a talented poet.... strangely compelling.... At his best, Jamieson resembles a modern-day G.M. Hopkins....” (Kirkus Discoveries)
IN VITRO: New Short Rhyming Poems Post-9/11, by Leland Jamieson
CreateSpace (133pp.), $13.95 paperback, August 12, 2009,
ISBN: 978-1441471215. Kirkus Discoveries, October 2009.
An exceedingly unique compendium of brief, formal poems by a talented poet.
A fair number of Jamieson’s “new short rhyming poems,” many of which are strangely compelling, engage the cosmological speculation of Zecharia Sitchin. In a book called The Twelfth Planet, Sitchin pioneered the view that humanity began with a race of ancient astronauts visiting Earth from a planet from Nibiru. Sitchin is just one of the eccentric thinkers that Jamieson engages in this sundry collection whose entries focus on a wide variety of topics, from romance to cairns (ancient piles of stones often used to commemorate the dead), from family relationships to the neocortex (a part of the mammalian brain). However, it is not the reader’s job to critique Jamieson’s sources or his mythologies—outlandish though they may seem—but his poetry.
The latter is often very good indeed.
At his best, Jamieson resembles a modern-day G.M. Hopkins, frequently using end-rhyme in the subtlest ways and letting the natural rhythm of language—and not the forced cadence of poor verse—move readers smoothly from line to line. This is evidenced in the beautifully complex sonnet “Calling me home”—“In fragrant morning air, I spot bold hart / outside my window locking splendid racks. /Vermillion hills hoist sun behind their backs / cajoling sky’s zodiacal light, ‘Depart.’ ”
Elsewhere, he’s too clever by half, as in “Persimmons, Pseudopods and Such” when he matches “odd” with the unforgivable “faux pased.”
But overall, In Vitro features more delight than pretense. With this new collection of short poetry, Jamieson gives readers a veritable Gordian knot of words—it’s their pleasure to attempt unraveling it, even if they should fail.
Challenging poetry that’s well worth the effort.
(This review first appeared in Kirkus Discoveries and is reprinted here by permission of the publisher.)
“Splendid gem.... Striking language that suddenly becomes metaphysical and intricate.... Features enchantment over imaginative intellectual play” (Bonzer)
In Vitro, New Short Rhyming Poems Post 9/11 ...
A review by John Paul Newbury which appeared in Bonzer Magazine. Author: Leland Jamieson. Self-published (2009). Price: US$13.95. Format: Paperback 133 pp. Category: Poetry. Review Copyright © 2011 by John Paul Newbury and Bonzer Magazine. http://www.bonzer.org.au/?p=30416 Reprinted by permission.
Laud Leland Jamieson for having the wherewithal, the gumption, the tenacity and undoubtedly talent to produce and publish such an enlightening, colourful and entertaining piece of poetic prosody. What is prosody? It is a study of poetic metre and the art of versification.
Leland Jamieson is a modern American poet and author. He presents this his [second] major publication, and he writes from his home in East Hampton, Connecticut.
He calls it ‘In Vitro:’ ‘in glass’, from within an artificial environment. This can mean several things. Read his notes at the back of this splendid gem; since silica is the principal ingredient of glass and silica is everywhere then do we need to add glass equipment for In Vitro fertilization. What exactly is artificial?
He has several careers, lifetimes, all crammed into one, and he breathes [them] all into the pages of In Vitro. [The reader will find evidence of them in poems] dedicated to other J’s, [and] see many more [illustrations of them] strewn inside: subtitles, mini-dedications, dates, biblical references.
Almost one hundred poems shared between six sections, a prologue and an epilogue, which begins with: 'Reprise – Weighing In With Papa', a return to his beginnings. The final poem is the title track, ‘Tweezed in Vitro’, Leland’s raison d’être, or at least the motivation for this collection. Each time you read this poem, it reminds more of Jorge Luis Borges’ brilliant Labyrinth. Jamieson's ending:
Coda for the 21st Century:
Confession’s cheap. Won’t fix what’s gone amiss
with spirits shamed, deep down, to be made fools
of gold Earth can’t support in this abyss
of conflict where your lust for power rules ...
Won’t solace cosmic souls awaiting lives
You aliens tweezed with your in vitro tools ...
The collection begins with ‘Looking Glass’, an introduction into the artificial world of humanity, an introspective look. The final couplet:
But seeing all that’s in my glassy hide
requires the Inner Eye look deep inside.
This first poem is a sonnet, and Leland writes a multitude, Shakespearean in effort and form. He subdues with the sonnet. Some research from the Macquarie Dictionary reveals:
‘a poem, properly expressive of a single complete thought, idea, or sentiment, of 14 lines (usually in five-foot iambic metre) with rhymes arranged according to one of certain definite schemes’.
Leland follows mostly the Shakespearean form, and cleverly so.
In a similar tone to the sonneteers of the past, Leland proposes the problem and proffers a solution: a summary in the final couplet. He writes formal poems, well–structured, a modern Gerard Manley Hopkins, who experiments widely in prosodic rhythm and imagery, with striking language that suddenly becomes metaphysical and intricate.
He finds inspiration in Zecharia Sitchin, who believed humanity descended from an ancient race of astronauts. Sitchin is simply one of many sources, of which Jamieson melds into alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia and rhyme.
He has scribbled poetry for many years and finally decided about a decade ago to devote his life to the measured form. He wants to relate to people in rhyme and metre, to inform, to present relevance in a shape that anybody can grasp, and each time you return another level reveals itself.
‘Teaching myself to write in meter, and especially rhyme, and committing myself to it has been the most liberating experience I have ever enjoyed in my writing life. What they most liberated was feeling and creativity, and with it fresh insight into people, myself, and the nature of the planet we call home’.
In Vitro features enchantment over imaginative intellectual play. Discover the fortune of words within such poems as ‘Calling Me Home’:
I roused (alarm not set) without a start.
How deep my sleep! My middle name’s “Relax.”
A cosmic, tranquil, dreamy parallax
of feeling slips away and flies apart ...
In fragrant morning air, I spot bold hart
outside my window locking splendid racks.
Vermillion hills hoist sun behind their backs
cajoling sky’s zodiacal light, “Depart ...”
Yesterday, golf with Gunby. Rode a cart.
Shot under par on every hole ... Jazz Sax
at Nineteenth Hole was cool. Good beer, talk, snacks,
delicious dinner, too, served à la carte.
But they, while great, did not call home my heart
as did this feeling dream, Monsieur Descartes.
Add In Vitro to your collection either in print or eBook form. Captivation awaits those who do.
Home
IV Headlines
IV Book Reviews
What IV Readers Say
IV Back Cover
IV Synopsis
IV Videos Section 1
IV Videos Section 2
IV Videos Section 3
IV Videos Section 4
IV Videos Section 5
IV Videos Section 6
Contact the author: leejamieson "at"
Comcast "dot" net