Thrust: Poems

Beauty, desire, and violence intersect in this uneven fourth collection from Derr-Smith (Tongue Screw). Structured as a book-length sequence of linked lyric pieces, the narrative arc follows a female speaker, describing her attempts to map the “crossroads and coordinate” of the “body in its collision” with others. Derr-Smith is at her best when she moves beyond abstraction and generality, allowing the individuality of the speaker and other characters to shine through the texture of the language itself, as when she writes, “The image// of that soldier’s face drifts like silk in the river, discarnate, nameless now.” Such lines are skillful in their command of the rhythms of language and alive with metaphorical possibility. Yet the piece quickly transitions to prosaic exposition, which lacks awareness of its own movement through literary tradition and attention to detail on the level of language: “he meant so little to me then. But looking back// I remember.”While there is much to admire in this collection, the poems oscillate between innovation and convention. (Nov.)