Review of BEFALLEN by K. Alma Peterson, 2009, 21 pages, Propaganda Press ($7 plus $2 shipping) to Alternating Current, PO Box 398058, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
By Barbara Bialick
BEFALLEN, by K. Alma Peterson, has some interesting lines—“little soldier of spring in tree bark fatigues” ; “I wasn’t meant to be in a family but there I was”; “Caught mid-swoon at dusk a code of fireflies a blink shy/a pulse fast etcetera too few breathe-holes in their/thought jars/signals the larger darkness…”
Ultimately I wasn’t drawn to one profound conclusion, but noted, rather, her interest in word play and streams of words disparately connected.
The title poem, “Befallen” concludes: “For the world so loved itself coming daily into light/the finish line of any sight beginning over there/where it isn’t such a stretch to think of truth and light.”
The gray book with a color cover is a trendy mini-sized format of 5 ½ x 4 inches with a red and blue print by the late Carolyn Ellingson.
The author, K. Alma Peterson, of Rosemount, Minnesota, is a graduate of the MFA Program at Warren Wilson College. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 1999.
A book you can to carry in a pocket or a pocketbook, if you want to give it a try.
