Voodoo Villanelle and Other Pleasant Surprises

Between listening to George Saunders analyze Anton Chekhov in "A Swim in the Pond in the Rain" and to Joan Didion's latest collection of essays in "Let Me Tell You What I Mean", I listened to Natasha's Dennerstein's latest collection of poems in "Anatomize." The power of her verse first impressed me as equal to the writers I was listening to, leaving me pleasantly surprised.

For those who don't have time to Google her title, "anatomize" means, according to Mirriam-Webster online, "to cut in pieces in order to display or examine the structure and use of the parts." In her collection, Dennerstein dissects relationships, and it is not always scalpel-clean, but messy as relationships can be with all of their complexities. She uses the body and its parts to analyze these relationships in thematic poetry chapters such as "Skull and Bones" and "Internal Organs." As she performs autopsies on these relationships, part by part, like a CSI investigator, I was reminded of that old nursery rhyme "the leg bone is connected to the knee bone, and the knee bone is connected to the shin bone . . ." Her distinctive, weary voice created a haunting narration that drew me in as if I was listening to Vincent Price narrate Edgar Allan Poe. She speaks in a rhythm like that of a heartbeat.

Her subject is at once macabre and humorous, brutal and tender. Many lines jumped out at me as speaking a truth, such as “Your body brought elation until it was ready for cremation” or “From the waste of your carcass, the nutrients will be sucked back into the soil.” Other poems brought a smile to my face such as "Voodoo Villanelle" in which a woman spikes her ex's coffee with her own blood to try to bring him back. Other poems were tender such as "Very Touching" in which she recalls touching various objects in her departed grandmother's home and bringing her back to life in her memory. Still other poems were flat out funny like "Gluteus Maximus" that describes that part of a man in "bootylicious and delicious" verse.

At every turn and poem, I found myself surprised more and more. I never know what to expect with the next poem, but I always found myself moved, entertained, and delighted. I've listened to parts and poems of her book now two or more times.

Dennerstein is a creative force of poetry. She speaks in a voice that is her own. Given that we had just lost a poetry icon with Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I felt heartened to know that Dennerstein forges ahead with poetry that scorches a path and takes no prisoners.

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