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3 powerful new poetry collections

Three new poetry collections celebrate verse – and life – in rich and varied voices.

2. "The Players," by Jill Bialosky

  • By Elizabeth Lund Monitor poetry critic

Jill Bialosky’s The Players (Knopf, $26) is a fresh, inviting collection that explores the mother-son relationship and family dynamics.

The book begins with a wonderful series of poems that capture the language and rhythms of baseball and show how the game teaches boys about manhood. Everyone has a role to play, whether on the field or in the stands, and as the drama unfolds, adolescents grow toward independence.

As the poem “Mind Game” explains, “Soon something had taken hold/ and it was as though another/ more enlightened being emerged/ and you knew exactly what/ you were doing without thinking.”

Other poems highlight transitions for parents: waning relationships, changing suburbs, or altered expectations. In the final section, the speaker cleans out her mother’s home, navigating childhood memories as her own child seeks his place in the world.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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