Review of “emily dickinson” by Irene Koronas,

Review of “emily dickinson” by Irene Koronas, sized 4 X 6 and 1/2 inches, 22 pages, Propaganda Press, Alternating Current, PO Box 398058, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, $5, 2010

By Barbara Bialick

When Irene Koronas writes her fine “experimental” poetry—sparsely punctuated prose poems, the reader would do well to experiment with the experimental experimentally.
For she is an expert mentally.

The first poem, “dear emily” reads in one interpretation, “who could know this intimacy with self would become expository tramping through every thought…we find your dogmatic loneliness…not an able companion…You dare not walk across the lawn. Yet book after book are on almost everyone’s bookshelf…”

Or you could say, “know this intimacy…self would become.. .(our) expository tramping through. every thought… trying to partner and lead…stepping on…you dare…not walk…a cross (on) the lawn…”

This handy little book with lovely pastel stripes designed by the author on the cover, can join you in a pocket or purse, perfect for sipping as you sip your coffee. Dickinson fans should find the book tasty as we learn to appreciate Emily the recluse from Koronas’ traveled and knowledgeable point of view. And also our own, depending how we choose to read it.

Many of these poems are numbered and appear to correspond to Dickinson’s poems by the same number. Have fun. Read both.

Irene Koronas is a well-known and published poet in the Cambridge/Somerville time zone and is one of the original members of the group called The Bagel Bards. She is also the poetry editor of the Wilderness House Literary Review.