Feel like you don’t “get” poetry?
Get in line.

For many people, there’s a feeling that poetry is a purely academic activity. It’s
something confusing that needs to be catalogued, analyzed and interpreted. Clarity has
to be squeezed out, like you’re juicing an orange by hand. But does poetry have to be a
chore? Absolutely not! At it’s core, poetry is the same as a novel or short story. If it’s
engaging, congratulations! You just found a poem you like. That’s literally the bar for
entry. Poetry is as a living form. It gains new elements from both the act of making it and
from hearing it read.

This month, two local poets, Chuck Brickley and Dina Klarisse, are holding
events at the bookstore. Both writers are great examples of the range and scale of
poetry, and demonstrate two important aspects of poetry: Performance and creation.
Their work explores not only wide thematic ranges, but demonstrates just how flexible
poetry is as a medium.

Chuck Brickley is an award-winning poet who writes primarily in haiku. That’s
right—he’s a champion at haiku. Within this format, Brickley manages to capture
moments like snapshots. With only 17 syllables to work with at a time, Brickley paints
with alternating strokes of precision and impressionism. Not only that, but his work
incorporates form play—everything from spreading words across a page for effect
(shaping a poem about an apartment building into an actual tower of words) to letting
them literally fall and drip across the page. To see what this looks like in action, come to
Chuck Brickley’s reading on April 18th.

Dina Klarisse’s work is longer, narrative form poetry, as seen in her collection
“Handspun Rosaries”. Klarisse’s work dives into the complex relationship between the
individual, religion and cultural identity. If all this sounds heavy, it’s because it is.
Klarisse’s poetry is so precise it can be straight-up suspenseful. The meaning can
change so abruptly from line to line that you’re almost compelled to cover it up as you
read, as expectation is constantly upended. Her writing workshop allows participants to
sit down and create poetry through found language and black-out—a technique where
sections of existing writing is literally blacked out, creating new meaning. The workshop
is on April 29th and materials will be supplied.

Currently, there is no law that controls how you enjoy poetry. There is no beret
mandate. No quota for wistfulness. Ennui is optional. This is, ultimately, a good thing.
You literally just check it out and see what you like. The Peninsula Book Collaborative
would love to facilitate your consumption of poetry. Come check out some poems.

–Matt, staff member and person intrigued by poetry