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Hourglass Museum by Kelli Russell Agodon

Source: Purchased
eBook, 108 pgs.
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Hourglass Museum by Kelli Russell Agodon creates its own gallery of art in which human interaction with artists’ work, ranging from Andy Warhol to Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keefe, is on display for readers to generate yet another level of interaction and interpretation. These poems are similar to the recursive style of painting in which a painter is seen painting himself inside of painting, etc., or something similar.

Agodon leaves readers with a number of verses to think on, including: “You said, Sometimes I still want to be needed, so I let our kitchen become a flood of time and you” and “To be master of your own fate means sometimes you have to rip up the instruction manual” and “to know the theme parks in our minds are really just a hall of mirrors.”

Even as she explores art that is recognizable, she’s also exploring human behaviors and how in some ways we self-sabotage and in others we seek solace and find little. I found many lines rang true, especially: “Poem: a form of negotiation for what haunts us.”

Hourglass Museum by Kelli Russell Agodon has an apt title in which human interaction with art is explored and the reality remains that our time is finite. She raises questions about societal norms, including the urge to thank fathers for taking their daughters by friends and teachers as if those fathers are not related to their children and not equally responsible for their care. Such innate reactions to simple acts of parenting bring this collection to life, grounding it in the personal.

RATING: Cinquain

About the Poet:

Kelli Russell Agodon is the author of Hourglass Museum (White Pine Press, 2014). She lives in the Seattle area and is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press. Visit her website.

Mailbox Monday #462

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog. To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links. Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Martha, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what we received:

Louisiana Catch by Sweta Srivastava Vikram, which the publisher set for review. Pre-order this one at Barnes & Noble.

A grieving daughter and abuse survivor must summon the courage to run a feminist conference, trust a man she meets over the internet, and escape a catfishing stalker to find her power.

 

Pancakes & Pandemonium: a Humorous Culinary Cozy Mystery (Culinary Competition Mysteries Book 6) by Janel Gradowski, which I purchased.

Culinary whiz turned reluctant amateur sleuth Amy Ridley is excited to enter a cooking competition featuring her favorite breakfast treat—pancakes! But while she’s up to her elbows in batter, she’s hit with one unexpected twist after another. First her estranged mother shows up and then just as quickly vanishes again after barely saying hello. Then a vicious storm zeroes in on her small town of Kellerton, Michigan. There is damage everywhere, and one person is killed…but not by the storm.

Amy and her mother have had a strained relationship, but when Mom is tagged as the prime suspect in the murder of her former high school rival, Amy can’t help but get involved. Yes, her mother can be annoying, but she’s not a ruthless killer… is she? Aided by her charismatic husband, Amy sets out to find the truth. In a town without power and still recovering from the storm, she suddenly finds herself in a cat and mouse game where not everyone may make it out alive!

Hourglass Museum by Kelli Russell Agodon, which was a Kindle freebie.

Hourglass Museum offers a dazzling selection of poems inspired by artwork and artists that explores personal relationships and the struggle (emotionally, financially, and spiritually) of living a creative life. Agodon understands the importance of how art influences our lives and how we balance delicately realizing that we only have so much time to live and create. Hourglass Museum is a meditation in beauty, tenderness, and knowledge reaching far beyond most poetry that’s being written today.

What did you receive?