 A Book Review by Laura StampsDvorak's Garage by Ray Greenblatt, 2004, 33 pages, paper, $5.00 Over 600 of Ray Greenblatt's poems have appeared in 100 literary journals and magazines. He has won the John Corcoran Prize; the Mad Poets Annual Contest; and the Anthony Byrne Prize for Poetry, which is jointly sponsored by the Irish Edition and Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Two of the poems in this collection were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Dvorak's Garage is a collection of 24 poems divided into four sections, each containing six poems. The chap is dedicated to the Overbrook Poets on the occasion of their twentieth anniversary. What holds this collection together? Music and humor. Greenblatt is a poet with an ear for the rhythm of words. The poems in the first section, 'Melodies', whirl with the movement of traditional music, and this is a common theme throughout all the poems in the collection. The first poem in this section, which is also the title poem, 'Dvorak's Garage', sets the friendly, musical tone for the chap. "Come on in / we're open all day / most of the night / upon request. / Don't sit on that chair / got a hole in the seat / pull up a crate. / Puff on this tuba / suck on this trombone / a rare alchemy / turning dross into brass." The melody of words delights Greenblatt, and he plays them as well as any instrument, as in the poem 'Horn': "I hang by the door / looking out onto Broad Street / a lump in my throat / from the smoke, / the ice cubes in my glass / like cold stars." Or in 'Painting: Little Girl at the Academy of Music': "She arrives / in purple tights / tiny black shiny shoes / They are playing Stravinsky. / And as she dozes off / her gaze rises / past the sparkling chandelier / to the domed ceiling / where gilded cherubs hover / and gods in silhouette / bend to listen." The second section, 'Outremer', contains poems which travel to us from distant places, like 'Night Train from Luxor': "I am alone in the corridor / with passengers racked in compartments / asleep like tombs in the Valley of the Kings." The third section, 'Contemporary', highlights a selection of poems subtly expressing the indifference of city life, as in 'Nexuc of the City': "It's where rails converge / and trains slam together, / long city blocks curve in on each other / whether they like it or not / and nearly touch." Even so, Greenblatt uncovers music and humor in this cold environment, and tells us exactly where to find it in 'When You're Down': "Go over to Broad Street / they're cooking something inside / let your eyes accustom to semi-dark / crawl into a shiny horn / lie in the piano straight and still / like nineteen other Luckies / and let the music speak for you / then find those lipstick marks / on the glass next to you / match them to the lips which smile / and make them yours / that will do the trick!" The fourth section, 'Paths', tickles your funny bone with humorous poems about everyday life, as in the first poem in that section, 'Motel Underwater', which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Sea Change Journal: "We all live in some way / in Pompeii, / settling / settling. / Too many people hopping / up and down in stadiums, / too many cars raging / over hills. / It began with the bathtub / backed up / the sink became a goldfish bowl, / all the pipes in the building / croaked a New Age chorus." And again in 'One Lost Dream': "I was so happy in that dream / but I can't remember why / I was so happy in that dream / I awoke / sitting straight up / a smile so wide / my mouth hurt at the pull / laughter frothing on my lips / the last chips of giggling / clinking back down my throat" If you're in the mood for a chap to lighten your mood, a collection that sings a melodious tune through skillfully placed words, this is the one. Dvork's Garage is a pleasant ride, and Ray Greenblatt is a talented poet, whose career should only continue to soar. Highly recommended. Dvorak's Garage |