Murmurations by Lea Graham

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Murmurations by Lea Graham

Murmurations by Lea Graham

Hot Tomato Press, 2020

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The poems in Lea Graham’s newest book, Murmurations, bloom with an immense enthusiasm and an amusing quality. The titles are used like quirky dictionary entries that lead readers to remarkable imagery, tragic histories, omni-present popular culture, observations of the natural world and elegy. The book is dedicated to the poet’s young niece, who was lost to cancer in 2019. Graham has written her poems close to nature and its creatures. “Handsel, (v.),”a word that means “to give (a person) a gift at the beginning of the year or day, on a birthday, etc., as a token of good luck” is the opening poem. The first section of the poem is set on Cape Cod’s Coast Guard Beach and reads: “Gneiss and devil’s purse and/ striated sky. A gull floats along/ its current then swoops to/ mimic these waves: each thing/ in its particularity, time, this/ morning’s gift.” These lines made me feel as if I were there on the beach, viewing the scene directly. The image of the gull floating along its current then swooping to mimic the waves captivated me. No doubt, the poet can captivate readers.

Graham’s fascination for birds is also evident in her poem “Murmurations,” which begins: “The shape and sense where/ wonder takes us: these starlings, a/ rumor in celluloid, some dark heart/ blooming, bits of shale shattering/ sky— what we used to marvel at,/ the slick and simple and strange.”

The poem, “Simple, (adj.),” reads: “What everybody wants these/ days: a little ease and/ understanding, a guy speaking/ good words: simply amazing/ solutions for our/ fears, our yearning. A/ balm that builds a Chinese wall around our hearts,/ our minds of rammed earth, of/ 400,000 lives beginning at the/ First Pass Under Heaven ending/ at the Old Dragon’s Head in the/ Sea, and despite what they say,/ Wikipedia confirms you can’t see/ it from the moon based on the/ optics of resolving power. Yet, it/ stands like a fact stretched/ 10,000 miles in our imagination,/ a monument out of this world.” This poem contrasts the present simple cravings and ancient facts which look appealing and quite magnificent, but also calls into question the validity of perspective.

“Terrific,(adj.),” a poem that takes a mythic turn in the book, starts out: “Persephone of-the-terrible-/beauty stolen away from the/ phlox and bluets, narcissus/ and sky. To look on her was/ to be dead. A troubling story/ in its blame-placing beauty/— she asked for it being that/ terrific looking.” These lines have already rested deep in my heart and will stay forever with me. “Terrific, (adj.)” shows the true philosophical tone of the poet and I am sure it’s going to delight the readers.

Lea Graham’s Murmurations; a limited edition/ fine arts book, hand-bound by the artist, Erica Spitzer Rasmussen; connects readers to nature, historical facts and affairs, and present culture. The fusion of the natural world with present culture and historical affairs is flawless.

Lea Graham is the author of two poetry books, From the Hotel Vernon (Salmon Press, 2019) and Hough & Helix & Where & Here & You, You, You (No Tell Books, 2011) and three chapbooks: Spell to Spell (above/ground Press, 2018), This End of the World: Notes to Robert Kroetsch (Apt. 9 Press, 2016) and Calendar Girls (above/ground Press, 2006). She is the editor of the forthcoming anthology of critical essays From the Word to the Place: The Work of Michael Anania (MadHat Press, 2021). Her poems, translations, reviews and articles have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. You can find out more about her work at www.leagrahampoetry.com. For further information about the work of the artist, Erica Spitzer Rasmussen, go to https://ericaspitzerrasmussen.com.

-- Rochak Agarwal