Odes

This book is such a pleasure! Funny, shocking, astute and every so often the emotional current running through these odes spill over the page. I was drawn in immediately with Ode to the Hymen and its playful imagery but what really held me to these poems is Olds' ability to take the reader into a thought and then sober up quickly with a line that holds more weight than the mischief. I'll keep some of these odes with me for the long haul.

Sharon Olds may be the most accessible contemporary poet. Many of these odes are humours meditations on body parts or sex. However, some are serious and touching like Silence and Wiskers. Olds does something Stevens does well - use everyday langauge but add just that one big word at just the right place. The humour and the accebility draws you in and she reveals some truths about everday life.