In the introduction to this chapbook, S.R. Duncan says of Abby Wener: “Knowing she is still shy of twenty, I am constantly amazed at the talent she possesses.” Well, I’m not. These are poems by a shy-of-twenty-year-old. Lots of abstract images about words and what Abby wants to try to do with them. Lots of self-conscious melodrama. There’s a passionate, idealistic diatribe against Camille Paglia, complete with an introductory explanation. Abby Wener says: “I’m trying to stay/with the present/instead of rolling ahead/or/rolling back,/to retrace tangled footsteps/of months ago,/and walk along/instead of deviating into the past.” Like any self-respecting teenager, Wener is exploring her world, looking for her place in it: “Today I looked at myself/in the dirty mirror/and smiled at the simple complexity/of knowing who I’ve been –/but not knowing who I’ll become/or what I’ll be able to call mine.” (KS)
Over 15,000 Zine Reviews & Growing!
