Poet Judith Fitzgerald reviews collections by Mary Dalton and Natalie Stephens
from monstersandcritics.com
Dalton's Red Ledger opens with a teaser from Selima Hill: "My nipples tick / like little bombs of blood." This speaker raucously woos the piano man: "What sort of a woman would you fancy, Nelson?" Possessing the rhythm of a sea ditty and the charm of a love-call from a woman to a prospect, it appears to head towards bodice-ripper territory.
Quickly, the tone of the book turns serious. The second poem concerns itself with shorthand, Golden Bough, blood-ritual images, while a subsequent entry dekes into car-wash territory and features one cranky spit-and-polish man. Does he occupy the sacred or profane spheres, this misery monger with a power hose and an attitude snarling at passing cars?
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Mary Dalton's previous book of poems, Merrybegot, is available as an unabridged audio recording narrated by Anita Best with music by Patrick Boyle from Rattling Books.
