Olsson's: The News From Poems

Olsson's is a locally Owned & Operated, Independent chain of six book and recorded music stores in the Washington, D.C. area, started by John Olsson in 1972. Olsson's-Dupont Circle is Malaika I. Robinson's home away from home, where she is often seen with a step stool in front of the poetry section. She used to pass poems to fellow English majors at Spelman College. Now the Cincinnati native reads poetry to pigeons on her Capitol Hill fire escape and writes "The News From Poems".

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

"Time and Materials"

Robert Haas entices you to consider colors behind words and actions behind beliefs in Time and Materials (Ecco/ Harper Collins 2007).

Book CoverMired in the holiday season, many Americans are out getting and spending – passing time with fancy trinkets and forced holiday cheer. In Time and Materials, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass impels readers to slow down in order to appreciate natural splendor.

This handsome book of poetry is a great way to subvert stencil-wielders and coerce people to prepare for a new year by reckoning with lessons learned in the past.

Time and Materials is the literary equivalent of dismantling an inherited pocket watch to figure out how the machine works – without losing any vital wheels or springs. Only Haas’ words are not so delicate.

Although this is Haas’ first book in a decade, it does not feel forced or brooded over. Czeslaw Milosz figures largely into this collection, but Haas also writes about self-discovery without isolating readers from disparate upbringings.

For readers who need to
"stand outside
The horizontal rush of it, for a moment
To have the sensation of standing outside
The greenish rush of it"
pick up this book.

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Malaika I. Robinson

Dupont Circle is Malaika I. Robinson's home away from home. She is often seen at Washington's oldest independent bookstore with a step stool in front of the poetry section. Malaika used to pass poems to fellow English majors at Spelman College. Now the Cincinnati native reads poetry to pigeons on her Capitol Hill fire escape. Malaika has worked at National Public Radio and co-edited a literary magazine in Florence, Italy.

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