Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Poets and Poems: Andrea Potos and "Marrow of Summer"


It’s somewhat obvious to say that a poet writes with precision, defined as a carefully chosen word that delivers exactly the meaning the poet intends.  But rarely have I read a collection of poems in which the poet’s precision in constant in poem after poem as Marrow of Summer by Andrea Potos. In this latest collection, Potos has written 52 generally short poems, many of them about relationships – and her precision packs a wallop.  

Perhaps it is the brevity of each poem – very few longer than 15 lines – that requires succinct and precise words. One thinks of Emily Dickinson often while reading these poems, and, in fact, two of them cites Dickinson. But Potos also cites her inspiration as John Keats. One poem is about the poet (“Conversing with Keats”) welcoming her to the house in which he lived in Camden, London near Hampstead Heath. If you’ve been there, or even seen photos of the house, her poem becomes a piece of visual reality.


To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

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