Review of "Poem On A Train" by Jordan Davis

This landscape chapbook is one long poem set, er, on a train. Well, there's an introduction too. Anyway, imagine, you're half-asleep, you're watching the world pass beyond the cold window, random thoughts simmer in and out of your tired mind. That's the poem.

But, my god, is it vivid. This is such a visual work that I saw a movie, one long reel, director Derek Jarman, music Alfred Schnittke, narrator a solid confident East Coast voice. Everything is here: now, thoughts, passing scenes, announcements, passengers, recollections, relationships, incidents, everything.

It's a long poem: 36 pages of larger type, plus one for the introduction. The language is poetic and colloquial, day-to-day, a sequence of phrases, the thoughts of the poet.

They talk about the end of great art
But they're just indulging in pep talks
Citroën sunk shiny green in the lawn
I think times and places know what we think
Turns into what we do

That way to Connecticut
It is a mistake to be attached to a place
I am attached to many places
I am a tent
Who wants a house
It's something like an autonomic response

This is a good little book to give someone who enjoys traditional form to introduce them to interesting alternatives. I enjoyed it.

Poem On A Train
Jordan Davis
Barque Press
1998
ISBN 1 903488 14 1