Night of the Republic

For one of my graduate school classes, I am required to review a book by a living, contemporary American poet. I chose Night of the Republic by Alan Shapiro. I was only supposed to post it on Amazon, but in an act of defiance, I decided topmost it here first. So, here it is.

I usually don’t read poetry books. I just saw this one, and it just spoke to me. I wasn’t all that aware of Shapiro’s work, but I began to like what I read. The collection is dominated by two sections of poems about mostly empty public spaces at night, as explained in the title. Each of the poems focus on how these spaces are so different at night and empty, then what they are during the day. The locations are as diverse as a gas station restroom to a shoe store, from a park bench to a book store. Each one takes on a haunted appearance, devoid of the usual bustle of day. The two sections are separated by a grouping of poems, Galaxy Formation, featuring everyday occurrences, totally normal. Yet Shapiro manages to inject a layer of the unusual into them. From a confession from a war crime wife to a convenience store counter display, these events take on a new look in his words. The last section, At the Corner of Coolidge and Clarence, focuses on Shapiro’s childhood, with the topics again centered on objects bringing new meanings into simple commonplace situations. Family drama and ritual are given equal time. If there is one fault with this collection, is that certain topics keep repeating. While a certain amount of overlap is expected, having three, if not four, of the poems set in restrooms/bathrooms is all but too much. “Gas Station Restroom,” “Edenic Simile,” “Bathtub,” and “Faucet” share very little besides setting, yet all four of them feel similar. A somewhat wider selection of setting may have changed these feelings of redundancy, but it is a minor offense to an overall deeply poignant collection.