Coup de theatre

Towards the beginning of the book, there are two good poems. One turns on the trope of the voyeur observed. "The Book Women" which opens the book begins with a portrait of older women that coming to a reading expose themselves to the not too gentle scrutiny of the poem's narrator. By the end of the poem the poetic voice reflects on the inner old women in all of us. What begins as satire turns to a disguised and distinguished call to carpe diem.

In a poem not quite in succession but akin to the opener by its twist, a view from a window leads to contemplation of a sprouting jungle scene. Revisited later in the poem after what is implied as a successful coming out, the scene is characterized by a single line, a line that amazes the reader and concludes the poem with a figure that opens up to meditation:

I found a solitary tree.

Sky Gilbert. Temptations for a Juvenile Delinquent I am sure there is more to say about the other poems and their solitary pleasures, meanwhile I'll hang out alone and cruise by the image of the tree once seen as a jungle.

And so for day 657
30.09.2008