Originally written for hobby blog on 30 March 2018
If I truly wanted to introduce my mother to poetry, this book is the one I’d give to her. Instead, I ask her questions about poems I’ve personally been struggling with or books about radical sociopolitical themes in the hopes of having something to talk about with her. Yes, I’m a terrible daughter.
Understories is broken into four parts which each seem to have different foci. The first part, “One Perfect Afternoon” reminds me of a diary and comfort food with poems like “Christmas Cards in January” and “Horoscopes.” “Horoscopes” talks about falling in and out of love while “Christmas Cards” looks back on a year and acknowledges nostalgia and the beginning of something new. That’s not to say all the content is light and fluffy. There are poems about lost relationships like in “elegy,” about a transgender person’s life in “Terry,” and of lost childhood innocence in “When does Childhood End?” Most of these self-reflective poems focusing on the speaker‘s relationships with others are found in part 2, titled “Functional Families.” “Terry” characterizes someone who discovered they were transgender at 79 while “Grand pa Shor” characterizes the maternal grandfather the speaker barely knows. “Summer’s Children and Their Mother” is another exemplary example of Greene’s ability to create a unique character placed in the context of another’s life. This part of the book focuses heavily on the speaker’s relationship with their mother across several poems, which have an even higher level of intimacy, painting a very complex picture of a less-than-perfect relationship.
With the third and fourth parts of the collection (“Going the Distance for Poetry” and “Lost Cities”), there is a definite change of tone. While I do stand by the fact that my mother would enjoy this book, I think it would begin to lose her by the third part. “Going the Distance for Poetry” focuses the speaker’s relationship to poetry and writing in poems like “Going the Distance for Poetry” and “Leaving Chile” while others look at others artist’s work. “Last Week” looks at the work of Sylvia Plath while other poems focus on paintings (“Gulping Silence”), or music (“Vibration”). An appreciation or knowledge of the arts would certainly add to enjoying this section of the book.
“Lost Cities” is sort of a return to look at people’s lives in the same vein as part 2, but then there are poems like “Ovid’s Exile” and “Orpheus” which seem a little out of place in this collection. People who have a cursory knowledge of Ancient Greece will probably know of Ovid and the mythical character Orpheus, but like with the ekphrasis poems of part 3, that knowledge would add to the enjoyment, but is not necessary.
Overall, Understories is a lighter read. I didn’t find myself struggling with any themes or concepts, and my mind wasn’t wandering in the middle of a poem like it sometimes does. Regardless of its level of complexity, Understories is still an pleasant read, and that’s sometimes all you need.
Some Quick Stats:
Author: Elizabeth Greene
Published: 2014, Inanna
Pages: 132