longer.blue

#sealeychallenge Day 19 Madeleine Cravens, Pleasure Principle @madeleinecravens The title of this slim volume makes one come to it from a Freudian angle, and indeed it explores pleasure and erotic relations in a series of dreamy narrative poems. The poems are little stories in clipped short staccato statements not unlike a journal entry, and they are mostly in the first person reporting things a lover or a friend has said, often about the speaker. Section 2 is a 22 part poem called “Desire Lines,” with some of the lines as short as 1 line and frequent incidental references to the father in the midst of reflection on relationships and erotic episodes. I loved the dreamy feel of these poems and the way they sent you off in your mind exploring the dreamwork to find the hidden springs of desire and pleasure. These are thoughtful and beautifully controlled poems.