JONES AV. XVI/4
Oel Press
88 Dagmar Av.
Toronto, Ont. M4M 1W1 Canada
Review by: Samille Taylor
Showcasing a variety of poets such as Neil Wilgus, David Huebert, Blair Ewing, Chantelle Rideout and a few others, Jones Av. is a journal of poetry that takes simple concepts and allows readers to think more deeply about them. Being a first-time reader of Jones Av. I was disappointed that this would be the last issue created. As stated before, each poet has found his or her own way to crack the hard exterior and find the inner core.
The collection starts with a very simple poem, two stanzas consisting of only sixteen lines total, by Neil Wilgus.
Classics
A billion light-years
away
a poet writes
what I just wrote
and what I just wrote
may see print
in the nanosecond
of my life
and be forgot.
Whereas that alien poet
may be forgot
for nanocenturies,
then be rediscovered
and live forever
in the minds of those whom
we’ll never never know.
The concept of no thought being original was the first thing that came to mind while reading Wilgus’ words. This idea, represented in the first four lines of the poem, is one constantly touched upon in my literary studies at Endicott College. Therefore, the fact that Wilgus has found a creative way to reiterate this concept leaves me smiling. Wilgus’ word choice is original and caught my attention.The “alien poet” (line 10) could be interpreted in various ways. It could represent the poets that disregarded the social norms and refused to conform to what was seen as popular for his or her time, and or it could symbolize the poets that some readers are unfamiliar with simply because of where the readers are coming from.- -be it locale, state of mind, or period of time. Neil Wilgus’ poem “Classics” has a very fitting title that brought writers such as Thoreau, Poe, Dickenson and Kafka to mind; alien poets who constantly thought outside of the box and refused to conform to societal norms.
As an English Literature major, when reading Blair Ewing’s poem “One Way” I was itching to deconstruct it. Here we have yet another poem that takes something so ordinary and allows it to sink in and consume one’s thought process.
One Way
Voices burning low like embers
below the dawn line, dream residue
ebbs & gives way to a fevered sea.
Buildings emerge from the mist
like concrete spears.
Still need wood
to shape those towers.
Still need money to name a crime.
Still need poets
to write the verses.
As we will
till the end of time.
Ewing uses powerful metaphors such as, “Voices burning low like embers” (line 1). Also: “Buildings emerge from the mist / like concrete spears” (lines 4-5). When really examining Ewing’s word choice the vocabulary packs a mean punch that leads readers to reevaluate their view on the way everyday society functions. By comparing the voices to embers Ewing gave the impression that the voices, that were strong at one time, are now weak and dying down. Also, by combining the words “concrete” and “spear,” two very dominant words, concrete being almost indestructible and spears being a form of weapon, Ewing creates an image of indestructibly dangerous buildings that could represent anything from industrialization, consumerism, the high dependency on technological advancement etc... Yet, no matter how fast paced and ever changing the commercial world may be, some things will always be the same, like the need of for a poet to write what the masses feel but can't express. This makes the last stanza extremely valid. This poem, like Neil Wilgus’, is short yet full of wisdom. Through Ewing’s work readers can understand that the world will continue to spin and nothing really changes, especially because no one is speaking up to make these changes.
Overall, I enjoyed reading Jones Av. XVI/4. As a young poet I was able to view different poetic styles and appreciate the poets and how they crafted their work.. This chapbook is a quick and satisfying read that will keep you re-reading and finding new meanings with every turn of the page.
.....Samille Taylor is 21 years old. She is a budding literary scholar, and a senior at Endicott College. She is also a poet, and of course, an English major. Her work both poetry and prose have appeared in the Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene, Lyrical Somerville, Endicott Review, and other publications, both online and print.
