When her Florida apartment is damaged by the ferocity of Hurricane Irma, Duhamel turns to Dante andterza rima, reconstructing the form into the long poem “Terza Irma.” Throughout the book she investigates our near-catastrophic ecological and political moment, hyperaware of her own complicity, resistance, and agency. She writes odes to her favorite uncle—who was “green” before it was a hashtag—and Mother Nature via a retro margarine commercial. She writes letters to her failing memory as well as to America’s amnesia. With fear of the water below and a burglar who enters through her second story window, she bravely faces the story under the story, the second story we often neglect to tell.
Excerpt from “Terza Irma”
I hoist my suitcase up the stairs, brace
myself as I open the door, slip
on water in the hall, and come face
to face with my books, the white shelves drip-
ping. I pull down Dante—the pages
heavy, wavy as potato chips—
then pat down the walls, trying to gauge
where the leak’s come from—the apartment
above? My ceiling’s dappled with beige
clouds I’m afraid will burst, a descent
of more indoor rain. I make my way
to the condo office, to lament
the havoc, ask for some help. My neigh-
bors are in varied states of panic
and shock, agitated castaways.
About the Author :
Denise Duhamelis a distinguished university professor in the MFA program at Florida International University in Miami. Her previous books include Second Story, Scald, Blowout, Ka-Ching!, Two and Two, and Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems.She is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Review :
In these poems, Duhamel looks back at her life and its pivotal moments with aplomb and humor. . . . This book is not exactly a swan song, but in many places it feels that way. What keeps it from being heavy are Duhamel’s word play, breezy free association, and chatty poetic style.
The poems in Second Story are sure to stand out among the many of Duhamel’s career.
All good poems have a second story and, like [Denise Duhamel’s] work, maybe a third or a fourth. From now on, I’ll be climbing stairs behind Denise Duhamel to wherever she may lead. I’m a convert.
Denise Duhamel can be serious and playful in the very same sentence, solemn and satiric in a single stanza. . . . Second Story continues a string of amazing poetry collections, from Queen for a Day to Ka-Ching! to Blowout to Scald. She is funny and illuminating all at once.
Past Praise for Denise Duhamel:
“Duhamel puts language on a taut high wire, gives it a spotlight, and makes it dazzle. . . . Beauty is always risky, and with Duhamel at the wheel, it’s also always where we will be delivered. I’ll follow Duhamel anywhere she leads.”
Funny and satiric, always with an edge of existential sorrow.
Political and socially critical, yes, but [her poems’] most delicious subversion is in their delivery: frankness and its accompanying joy.
