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Lyric: Poems Along a Broken Road. - Review - book review
Black Issues Book Review, Jan, 2001 by Karma Mayet Johnson
Lyric: Poems Along a Broken Road by G. Winston James Grapevine Press, February 2000, $12.00, ISBN 0-9655117-1-5
The flaring tongues and earnest voices laced through James' first collection of poetry welcome the reader into the family of black gay "children." This emerging poet shows considerable range--from the meditative austerity of poems such as "that same city" and "survivors" which lament a community's struggle with AIDS-related illness to the raw jaunt of "uprising" and "in the rain" celebrating gay political awareness and a loss of inhibition.
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Although the book opens with an epigraph from Audre Lorde, James's work would benefit from a perusal at length of Lorde's writings on the practice of revision. While each poem resonates with heartfelt sentiment, the work is often lacking that stone-shine exactitude which marks poets of an enduring caliber.
Nonetheless, the Lyric experience is one that will not be denied: skillfully crafted poems are scattered along James' broken road like gold for the patient sifter. There is irresistible black-on-black tenderness: poems like "between his fingers," a fresh twist on the ritual of scalp-oiling, as well as the searing bravery of pieces like "the twisted mirror," which testifies to the soul-hunger of a sex addict. With this promising collection, James offers us a powerfully intimate testimony of our times--a journey which is well worth the price of the ticket.
Karma Mayet Johnson is a poet, performance artist and freelance writer living in Brooklyn, New York.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
