Life in Suspension by Hélène Cardona
Risk & Alchemy
Review by John Domini
Life in Suspension by Hélène Cardona
Paperback: 110 pages Publisher: Salmon Poetry (2016) Language: English / French ISBN-13: 978-1910669297 “And so with leopard’s ears/,” writes Hélène Cardona, “I hear beyond the range of sound, / the ineffable, the sublime, my mother's / breath, my grandmother’s smile...” Rhetoric like that takes no small poetic risk, since who can get away with pairing up words so vague as “ineffable,” and “sublime?” But Cardona ushers us into just such a cloud-chamber, & there delivers the electricity of fresh elements in play -- or more often, in grief. The death of the poet’s mother, casting shadows and raising challenges, has prompted this outburst, and the result is Cardona’s best work, every piece fluid and quick, yet determined to probe the aching absence and locate the reassurance that remains. The project also allows for admirable flexibility, as each piece works in shorter lines, and with an unlabored, soundable rhythm, but the poet arranges these in a variety of forms: in single blocks, three- or four-line stanzas, and once in a fine, moving pantoum. Language is a major ingredient of her alchemy for immortality, in fact. Every poem, she explains in a forward, was composed in English and then later translated to French, and the text presents both, side by side. In more ways than one, LIFE IN SUSPENSION takes a reader to a farther shore. |
The reviewer
John Domini has won awards in all genres, with fiction in Paris Review and Threpenny, non-fiction in The New Republic and The New York Times. Books include three story collections and three novels, all well-received, as well as a selection of criticism. The Italian translation of the novel Earthquake I.D. was runner-up for the Domenico Rea prize. Domini has s taught at Grinnell, Harvard, Northwestern, and elsewhere. Fellowships have come from the National Endowment for the Arts and elsewhere. He is currently at work on both a memoir and another fiction. More information is at www.johndomini.com. |
