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Review by Carol Purington Blue Night & the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses Second EditionBlue Night & the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses (2nd Ed., with The Temperature of Love) by Larry Kimmel. Price: $12.95 USD. ISBN 978-1-935398-02-8 Trade paperback. 132 pages, 6" x 9". Modern English Tanka Press, P.O. Box 43717, Baltimore, Maryland 21236 USA. Modern English Tanka Press Bookstore
Blue Night & the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses is truly a distinguished collection of some of the finest of Larry Kimmel's poems. His skill with words and images, with rhythm and mood, are on elegant display from the opening work to the final page. Whether in the ancient form of tanka or in the very new structure of cherita, which he helped midwife, emotional and verbal content are effectively matched to the chosen pattern.Above all, a compilation of this kind has lasting value only when the poet's personality is evident in each phrase and every setting, and Blue Night & the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses certainly could not have been written by anyone except Larry Kimmel of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, of Colrain, Massachusetts, and of many places in between.
Kimmel possess, in addition to a poet's ear, the eye of a painter, and so it is not a small matter that these wonderful poems are now appropriately and permanently showcased. All the details of the physical presentation – the splendid cover painting, page design, font – work beautifully together. A book any poet could be proud of.
Other books by Larry Kimmel can be found at Larry Kimmel's Storefront & Modern English Tanka Press ______________________________________Links: Larry Kimmel at Winfred Press