*From the Kentucky Hills in a Time of War* reviewed in "New Verse Review"

 

A review (read here) by Brad Skow of BJ Omanson's From the Kentucky Hills in a Time of War has recently appeared in New Verse Review.

Excerpt:  

" But there is real drama in the book. There are harsh moments of violence, drunkenness, and the subordination of women. America witnesses a three year old girl “so drunk she could hardly stand up straight.” A newborn dies after being given “a few drops of / weakened and sweetened whiskey to keep it / from crying.” America mentions her father and one of her uncles, and says that

     . . . by the time I was five I hated 

all men but these. They were all mean to me 

and their wives and I grew to detest them.

When America grew up, the “but these” exception disappeared. Her uncle once said to his wife 

. . .  that he would slap off her face 

 and knock her down with a chair . . . 

simply because she had dared to ask for a new pair of shoes.   America had learned that her uncle

. . . was also like all other men 
and I vowed that I would never marry as long 
as I still had a mind of my own.

Writing about her grandfather, America wonders if he

  . . . recollects how Grandma and I were made 

to stand with backs to the wall at each meal 

and patiently watch as he and his sons 

ate their fill and only when they had left 

the table were we permitted to eat, 

provided that there were any scraps left.

This passage is a good example of the real poetry of the book. No “dazzling technique,” as I said, but there is careful attention to where line breaks fall: harsh enjambment is rare, instead each line tends toward one clear breath. This contributes a quiet dignity and reserved elegance to the verse."