Birches

In his fourth collection (Saint Friend), Adamshick revisits the age-old form of the elegy, placing it in dialogue with his New York School influences. Through an extended sequence in which the speaker meditates on the loss of his mother, Adamshick searches for that “light in the apse,” redemption in the wake of tragedy. The formally innovative, fragmented forms of the poems are nevertheless accessible: “His bicycle/ black on the grass/ black on the towpath/ one pedal dug into the earth/ black in the fallen leaves.” Adamshick’s poems are most compelling in moments like this, in which an image stands on its own, generating possibilities for interpretation. Elsewhere, however, the relative accessibility of the poems detracts from the collection’s otherwise evocative sensory details. In “Weakness,” Adamshick writes: “I want what you want/ I’ve always wanted what you wanted,” drawing away from tangible imagery in favor of exposition. Though poignant in its presentation of familial loss, this book may leave readers wanting more mystery from its narratives. (Feb.)