(chap)book review: karen rigby’s ‘savage machinery’
by Jessica Fox-Wilson
A chapbook is a miraculous venue for poets. It can be a remarkable publishing opportunity to showcase a group of poems that may not have found a single home together. It can also be an incredible challenge to present twenty or so pages of poetry in a cohesive aesthetic and theme. Karen Rigby’s Savage Machinery, coming in September from Finishing Line Press, succeeds in combining the ideas and craft from sixteen separate poems into a interconnected whole. Savage Machinery explores a specific area of the human condition: our relationship with sensuality and connection despite an often self-created distance.
The most intriguing aspect of Rigby’s work is the way in which her poems intensify as the chapbook progresses. Throughout most of her poems lingers a sensuality, hidden just below many of her characters’ surfaces. For instance, in the opening poem, “Bathing in the Burned House,” the housewife still lives in the house, obscured by burnt timbers but showers under the open sky. The neighboring husbands who pass by the house imagine (but never truly witness) her.
In another early poem, “Photo of an Autoerotic” is the distant sensuality of what should be explicit: a photo of a man indulging himself becomes almost scientific, an artifact of desire, rather than desire itself. Further in the chapbook are a series of food poems, which present sensuality in all of its physicality. Indulging in the smells, tastes and memories of food translates into indulging in the memories of our other carnal desires. The sense of sensuality becomes fully realized in these poems, and physical expression becomes about connection rather than distance.
Many of the poems in Savage Machinery are inspired by art. Through these poems, Rigby extends her meditation on sensuality to include the ways in which beauty, connection and identity have been defined for us visually. Rigby draws on a diverse pool of artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe and Boucicaut Master. These ekphrastic poems are well-executed because Rigby retains her own voice, while still conveying the emotional tenor and visual scope of the art.
The most accomplished poem of this series is “The Story of Adam and Eve,” which is inspired by Master’s illuminated manuscript of the same name. The poem shifts between Master’s artwork, scenes from the Garden of Eden, the process to create the illuminated manuscript and the narrator’s own experience in Paris. As the poem volleys back and forth, art and experience become blurred. The sensuality of Eden before the fall mingles with sensuality of calligrapher inscribing parchment, which then mingles with memories of a love affair. Because it addresses so many of the chabook’s themes, “The Story of Adam and Eve” becomes its centerpiece.
The beauty of chapbooks is that readers are able to discover a new poet through a brief immersion in their world, much like being transported to a foreign country and quickly acquiring the language. I found I wanted to spend more time living in Rigby’s world, where da Vinci flying machines bleed into passengers on real airplanes centuries later and women rebel by bathing in burned-out houses.
Rigby, Karen (2008). Savage Machinery. Georgetown: Finishing Line Press.
Available September 2008.
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Wear it loud, wear it proud! Display the Read Write Poem badge on your site. Just click here or on the image above to get the code! read write poem news- yes, yes, here’s another virtual book tour stop for ‘a walk through the memory palace’
February 6, 2010 | 11:37 amFind the latest tour stop for Pamela Johnson Parker’s debut collection, A Walk Through the Memory Palace at Jillypoet, Jill Crammond Wickham’s blog, where you can find an interview with Pamela that discusses how she creates manuscripts.
Previous stops include Daniel Romo at his blog, Peyote Soliloquies and James Brush at his blog, Coyote Mercury.
You can find all our plans for the tour here.
- the best of the web is in our ranks
February 6, 2010 | 11:35 amSarah J. Sloat’s poem,”Attending the Tasting” (published in The Literary Bohemian) has been selected for Best of the Web 2010. Congratulations, Sarah!
- another (w00t!) read write poem member on the joe milford poetry show
February 6, 2010 | 11:34 amOn the Joe Milford Poetry Show tomorrow (Feb. 6): W.F. Roby at 9 AM (PST). Find the show here!
Joe describes Will as a “great language poet and bad-ass.”
- ‘literary podcasting made simple with wordpress.com’
February 6, 2010 | 11:33 amDave Bonta has published a how-to article that might be of interest to WordPress users: “Literary Podcasting Made Simple with WordPress.com,” based on his and Beth Adams’ experience at Qarrtsiluni.
Thanks, Dave, for continuing to help make the community aware of technological resources that can expand our art.
- the latest (virtual) book tour stop for ‘a walk through the memory palace’
February 3, 2010 | 3:53 pmThe latest tour stop has been posted for Pamela Johnson Parker’s debut collection, A Walk Through the Memory Palace. Find out how Daniel Romo responded to the work at his blog, Peyote Soliloquies.
James Brush provided our first tour stop at his blog, Coyote Mercury.
You can find all our plans for the tour here.
- planning for napowrimo in april, and you are invited!
February 2, 2010 | 6:12 pmHello, hello dear Read Write Poem community members! We are in the planning stages for NaPoWriMo. (What? Is that a groan I hear, or an excited exclamation?)
We are planning another prompt-every-day for those folks who love to write a daily poem in April (which is, as most of you know, National Poetry Month in the United States — although there is an international following of writing poetry every day in April, too, so it is not just about the States).
Anyway! This is a call for prompts because we want to run your ideas, one every day, in April. So here’s what to do:
- Prompts must be no more than 250 words, and we will take the first 30 that we receive.
- Include “NaPoWriMo Prompt” in the subject line of your email as well as your username (e.g., the name you use when you log in) so we can match you up with your prompt and give you the link love.
- Email your submission (in the body of the email — no attachments please) to prompts (at) readwritepoem (dot) org!
We’ll let you know when we’ve got the 30, but don’t delay because it takes a lot of time to format the posts and we want to be ready come April Fools’ Day. Woohoo!
- new senior contributors at read write poem
February 2, 2010 | 11:51 amWe are thrilled to announce that Ren Powell and Dave Jarecki are moving into the senior contributor role at Read Write Poem. Both have been writing feverishly for the site, as well as providing ideas for content and for the community as a whole. In short, they make this site a more lively, and better, place.
Ren and Dave will fill the roles vacated by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham, who have moved into the manager role.
Everyone please thank Ren and Dave for their hard work and commitment to Read Write Poem.
- rounding out the virtual book tour of sarah j. sloat’s ‘in the voice of a minor saint’
January 31, 2010 | 1:53 pmOur last stop on the Virtual Book Tour of Sarah J. Sloat’s In the Voice of a Minor Saint is with Ren Powell. Find Ren’s review at More Babel.
Joseph Harker provided our first stop in December, and you can find David Moolten’s review at Edible Detritus. David’s was followed by Dave Jarecki’s. Dave’s review is at his blog. Find Jill Crammond Wickham’s at Jillypoet: Mom Trying to Write.
In case you missed the introduction, we are (virtually) hosting Sarah J. Sloat’s In the Voice of a Minor Saint. For complete tour information, such as how you can get your own copy of the collection or how you can get involved in future tours, read this post.
- make your own book: get off the computer and onto the paper
January 30, 2010 | 4:19 pmBeth Adams has posted her latest project at The Cassandra Pages. “A Handmade Book” may not explicate all the details of bookbinding, but Beth shows readers the “Secret Belgian Binding.” It’s a beautiful as well as inspiring post.
If you would like more detailed instructions, Google “secret Belgian bookbinding” and find sites such as this one. Or look for a local book arts class for hands-on instruction.
As Beth says, ” … it did me good to get away from the computer and feel my hands at work!”
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Thanks for this review, Jessica. I agree, chapbooks are a wonderful way for poets to get a start, and a great opportunity for readers to get an initial sampling. I wish more chapbooks were available in book stores!
ANy chance of getting this one ahead of schedule? It sounds really great.
Dear Jessica: You make Karen Rigby’s SAVAGE MACHINERY sound interesting, and I agree with the points made about the venerable genre of chapbooks. Might I suggest that you add a few actual lines of Ms. Rigby’s work, to give the potential reader an actual taste of the works?
All the best.
Alex Fraser — Macresarf1 — Glenn Anders
Dear Jessica,
Thank you for the kind review. Jillypoet-the chapbook will be out sometime in the fall. Macresarf1-sample poems can be found on my site: http://www.karenrigby.com
Best regards,
KR