New Titles in Poetry

For and Against
Author: Sharon McCartney
Publisher: Goose Lane
Paper $16.95 (73 p.)
ISBN-13: 9780864925398
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For and Against, Sharon McCartney’s latest collection of poetry, is a compelling read. Her poems move fast and hit hard. The lines have plenty of juice, and note that many more of the titles of these poems begin with Against (as in “Against Happy Stories,” “Against Imagination,” “Against Skinny-Dipping,” “Against Therapy”) than with For, but that just adds to the pleasure of finding the upbeat at the core of this work. McCartney is fearless in her choice of words and of subjects, so the reader follows her from her highs down to dark places, trusting her voice, and hoping to gain from a survivor’s insight. How people ought to relate to each other, as children, siblings, lovers or others, is not so much McCartney’s concern as how we do relate, and what we tell ourselves about the relationship, while we are involved in it, and long afterwards. McCartney’s poems give the lie to the idea that our experiences define us, insisting it is much the other way round. The argument is irresistible, expressed as it is, time after time, in evocative language, as in these lines from “For Alcohol”: …

sometimes wishing I could be that again, that slattern who courted obliteration shamelessly, bitter pleasure in the epiglottis, a cold pint on a hot deck, chocolate stout from Quebec, windowless taverns, banquettes and bartenders, airport lounges, plush hotel bars, the unknown winking at me from a corner booth, yes, I miss that…

McCartney has extended metaphors that sizzle, so that images in “Against Coyotes” and “Against Skunks” are fully realized in context of the titles and then also deliver another level of understanding. Hard realities are presented without a blink, in poems such as “For My Sister’s Brain” but a charm of slow times in familiar places works in others—making risotto, walking a dog—and both sift through an unfailing awareness. Running through this work is McCartney’s ironic humor with laugh-out-loud pieces like “Decaf” in which any high-test coffee drinker will delight. The reader is also captivated by the appearance of women out of literature from fairytales to Hemingway, with stories to tell that bump up against and overturn the older definition of each character’s secrets and desires.

McCartney’s new book should win some awards—it is possible only to be for For and Against.