Robert Kramer is a poet of perception and reflection; he observes, he thinks and feels. He makes us notice the margin of our lives, redeems the drabness of the daily, makes the trivial significant, the forgettable unforgettable. Enhancing Kramer's nuanced moods and descriptions is a remarkable precision of imagery. The new boy in the neighborhood "slouches and scuffs the black-tarred street / with his ragged canvas sneakers." Especially memorable are the lines at the end of a poem. A sudden childhood memory...startles, like ...
Read More
Robert Kramer is a poet of perception and reflection; he observes, he thinks and feels. He makes us notice the margin of our lives, redeems the drabness of the daily, makes the trivial significant, the forgettable unforgettable. Enhancing Kramer's nuanced moods and descriptions is a remarkable precision of imagery. The new boy in the neighborhood "slouches and scuffs the black-tarred street / with his ragged canvas sneakers." Especially memorable are the lines at the end of a poem. A sudden childhood memory...startles, like the echo of a cough in an empty cathedral. His father remembers the frozen pondwhere girls and boys in brightest sweaterswould skate and sport on the ragged ice, avoiding the driftwood that protruded from the surface, like the clawing hands of drowned hoboes. And in a woman's fantasy A leering sailor in a red-striped under-blouse, tight white bell-bottomed trouserswanders through her Parisian dream and nightmares, a red pompom bobbing on his jaunty slanted cap. Following these impressions are vignettes of writers and artists of the past, evoked with Kramer's subtle and meaningful precision. And to round things out, he offers a series of short poems patterned on Chinese poets of another age, treasured moments of joy and fantasy and grief. Kramer's world is simultaneously tiny and vast. He invites us to partake of it. If we do, we will be the richer for it. Clifford BrowderRobert Kramer es un poeta de percepciones y reflexiones; observa, piensa y siente. Nos hace notar el margen de nuestras vidas, redime la monoton�a de lo cotidiano, hace que lo trivial sea significativo, que lo olvidable sea inolvidable. Los enfatizados �nimos y descripciones de Kramer son de una notable precisi�n metaf�rica. El chico nuevo en el vecindario que "se agacha y recorre la calle asfaltada / con sus zapatillas de lona ra�da". Especialmente memorables son las l�neas al final de un poema. Un recuerdo repentino de la infancia...sobrecoge, como el eco de un tosido en una catedral vac�a. Su padre recuerda el estanque congelado donde chicos y chicas con los m�s coloridos su�teres patinar�an y competir�an sobre el hielo disparejo, evitando las ramas que sobresal�an de su superficie, como torcidas manos de vagabundos ahogados. Y en la fantas�a de una mujer Un lascivo marinero en camiseta de rayas rojas y pantalones ajustados de campana blanca deambula por su sue�o parisino y por sus pesadillas un pomp�n rojo se balancea en su vistosa gorra inclinada. Luego de estas impresiones, hay vi�etas de escritores y artistas del pasado, evocadas con la sutil y significativa precisi�n de Kramer. Y para redondear las cosas, nos ofrece una serie de poemas cortos basados en poetas chinos de otra �poca, momentos preciados de gozo, fantas�a y dolor. El mundo de Kramer es a la vez min�sculo y vasto. Nos invita a participar en �l. Si as� lo hacemos, seremos de lo m�s afortunados. Clifford Browder
Read Less