WHITE PAPERS by Martha Collins

WHITE PAPERS

Martha Collins

University of Pittsburgh Press

ISBN 13: 978-0-8229-6184-0

2012 $15.95

Martha Collin's poetry mixes metaphor with concrete

images. Sometimes the breakdown and repetitiveness

of phrases and words, helps the reader to ascertain

their own reality, identity, their own rag tag submission

to our own skin, thin enough to see through:

“black keys letters learn

to play read write dress

shoes purse suit grown

up clothes hat tie night

out morning coffee not

yet sin will find you out

dirt sheep eye and blue

mark so it seemed wrong

that in the meant good

book word confused with

Middle English blac pale

(see bleach) oh no never”

When the reader reads the poems aloud, one can hear

the word clicking rhythm that could be, if we

continue to recite with an accent on what is being written,

an accent that is familiar and then clicks into another

pentameter, like jazz bends a note:

“...a dark sky the coming

in of the kept out

in the wind waves

of whites only within

city limits after dark

whites only under

the stones no skin

covering”

And there is history, and color clarification, and experi-

mental writing. And there is the History in the text books

or not, ethics or not, this is a principled reality and not

the History taught. Collin's music is in the revolutionary

in the same way hip hop and rap lyric the 'revolution.'

Each verse, each awareness addresses the reader. The

song so long ignored by some, we are naked in front

of this verse:::

“could get a credit card loan car

come and go without a never had

to think about a school work job

to open doors to buy a rent a nice

place yard park beside a walk

in any store without a never had

to dress to buy a dress shoes under-

wear to understate or -play myself

to make myself heard to get across...”

 Collins plunges into herself, her image and all the foibles

we all believe, but are afraid to reveal and research, and with

book in hand, fingers ink stained, “playing in the dark.” we

are participants:

“although my father although

my mother although we rarely

although we whispered

although the silence although

the absence although even now

some TV books not to mention

radio websites new militias hate

groups raging against our socialist-

communist-fascist although but still...”

This book brings me to the great poet Susan Howe and her intense

study of her subjects in the same way Martha Collins has studied

her subject, even on the personal level. I also think of Cornell West,

his book, “Race Matters” in the same way Collins denotes colors.

Color matters in this book of white papers with black ink. I counted

color words because color matters and because I enjoy what color

represents and their many representations. There are variations on

color so my count is approximate. These are the colors in this book:

white 101, black 43, green 3, pink 5, browns 13, red 8, blue 1, gold 3,

yellow 7, gray 1:

“...and although I've gone back

and filled in some blanks

I'm still learning this un-

learning untying

the knot of Yes but re-

writing this  Yes  Yes”

The poems are masterfully rendered, using space and time

in newer forms and classical form. This is another must read,

another thoughtful book by Martha Collins

Irene Koronas

Poetry Editor: Wilderness House Literary Review

Reviewer: Ibettson Street Press