Post by shayepoet on Aug 31, 2008 2:50:43 GMT 2
Easy Marks
Gail White
"White claims a new authority for the woman light verse writer: the right to assert herself as a satirist, as a clear-eyed critic of the world around her...Her poetic voice seems unusually tough, self-confident, and astringent."
—Julie Kane, author of Rhythm & Booze
Sample poem:
A Visit on All Saints Day
Hello. I’ve brought your favorite flowers again.
How is it going under there, my dead?
On this side, we’re no better off than when
you walked beside us. (Yes, I know I said
the same last year.) The human race is not
improvable. Ask any saint you meet.
We’ve gone to war again without a thought.
Our leaders shuffle bribes, our heroes cheat.
Your children haven’t turned out awfully well,
but who expected it? You’re not to blame,
and anyway I don’t believe in hell.
Goodbye for now. I’m always glad I came.
I make no promises about next year,
but one way or another, I’ll be here.
Praise for Easy Marks:
"In every generation from the dawn of recorded civilization, poets have drawn upon their contemporary observations and experiences for their inspiration. Easy Marks by Gail White is an apt and highly recommended example of a poet using the means of rhyme and meter to examine the foibles, eccentricities, complexities, frustrations, and embedded wisdoms of contemporary life today."
—Midwest Book Review
"Her best “light” verse has a bitter edge, like Dorothy Parker’s (you know, like Resume and Bric-a-Brac). And her “serious” verse never commits the sin of taking itself too seriously. She can be earnest, she can be erudite, but she’s never pompous.
—Rose Kelleher
"It’s not often these days that a poet chooses the hard way — writing formal verse with tight meter and rhyme. Even more rare is the poet with a sense of humor. Breaux Bridge’s Gail White has it all in her new book of verse, Easy Marks. She can spoof the rhapsodies of a besotted lover, berate a flagrant cell phone abuser, or explain God’s ways to man, and do it all with sly irony and a crackling end rhyme."
—Mary Tutwiler, The Independent
*****
Getting Serious About Gail White’s Light Verse
*****
About the author:
Gail White is a widely published poet belonging to the Formalist Movement in contemporary poetry. Her manuscript “The Accidental Cynic” won the Anita Dorn Award. She is a frequent contributor to formalist poetry magazines. Other titles include Ignoble Truths and Kiss and Part. Her latest book is The Price of Everything from Mellen Poetry Press. White also co-edited The Muse Strikes Back (Story Line Press) and edited Landscapes with Women (Singular Speech Press).
Her work is included in the Poets Greatest Hits archive at Pudding House Press. She lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana with her husband and cats.
Website: www.gailwhite.org
Verse Daily: tinyurl.com/62tzdq
ISBN 9781934999066, 75 pages, $17.00
David Robert Books, 2008
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