THIS AFTERLIFE

Author: A.E. Stallings
Date released: 2022
Category: Poetry Collection

Synopsis: Selected Poems brings together poetry from A. E. Stallings's four acclaimed collections, Archaic Smile, Hapax, Olives, and Like, as well as a lagniappe of outlier poems. Over time, themes and characters reappear, speaking to one another across years and experience, creating a complex music of harmony, dissonance, and counterpoint. The Underworld and the Afterlife, ancient history and the archaeology of the here and now, all slant rhyme with one another. Many of these poems unfold in the mytho-domestic sphere, through the eyes of Penelope or Pandora, the poet or Alice in Wonderland. Fulfilling the promise of the energy and sprezzatura of Stallings's earliest collection, her later technical accomplishment rises to meet the richness of lived experience: of marriage and motherhood, of a life lived in another language and country, of aging and mortality. Her chosen home of Greece adds layers of urgency to her fascination with Greek mythology; living in an epicenter of contemporary crises means that current events and ancient history are always rubbing shoulders in her poems.

Expert at traditional received forms, Stallings is also a poet of restless experiment, in cat's-cradle rhyme schemes, nonce stanzas, supple free verse, thematic variation, and metaphysical conceits. The pleasure of these poems, fierce and witty, melancholy and wise, lies in a timeless precision that will outlast the fickleness of fashion.

The UnReel Take:

Story: N/A
Writing: 7.0
Characters: N/A
Setting: 8.0

UnReel AR: 7.5

Bottom Line: This Afterlife was my first time reading A.E. Stallings work, as I'm not the most avid poetry consumer. I took a few poetry classes for my Bachelor's (it was required) but my ability to connect with poetic works is really hit or miss. Luckily, this collection was largely a winner for me, though it certainly wasn't perfect.

Since This Afterlife is a collection of collections, pulled from different eras of the writer's life, the themes were varied but Greek culture and mythology provided a narrative thread throughout. Not every poem dealt with these topics, but enough did that it was recognizable.

There were some poems I didn't really connect with but that's going to be true of any collection. I liked how she varied the format of rhyme schemes, meters, traditional vs. open forms, etc.

Particular Favorites:

·       Hades Welcomes His Bride

·       How the Demons Were Assimilated & Became Productive Citizens

Odd Lines:

One of the recurring issues that keep me from being an avid poetry fan is the odd words and phrases poets will weave in occasionally. Here are a few of those phrases. (Please note, this section is meant to be light-hearted, I'm not mocking the writer or providing critical commentary; possibly these lines are brilliant and I'm just dumb.)

·       “the sky, as bright as pain,”… what?

“Of form and entropy,”… does entropy have form?

Ideal Reading Location: All over the freaking place. Poetry collections, in my humble opinion, aren’t meant to be read in one sitting. Pick it up once a day and read through a poem or two wherever you’re at. See how the words hit you differently in different contexts.

Drink Pairing: See above answer but, given the Greek themes of this collection, I’m going to have to say Ouzo. Yamas!

Maybe your experience will be different!