SJane

Another DGP chapbook that I ordered without being familiar with the poet but very much enjoyed. The poems and pieces in here (including a funny, "impossible one-act poem") were very entertaining, yet addressed various issues like Jewishness, being a woman, and relationships.
Many of the poems are written "for" another writer - there's one for Lydia Davis, for example, two for Russell Edson, written loosely in that author's style. By far the funniest was the one provided as a sample poem on DGP's website, "Woman to woman," which is for Alan Dann, whom I've never heard of (and cannot find on Google). In any case, it starts like this:

"A woman came up to me in Bloomingdales and said she liked my sunglasses and I told her where to get them and she said, "what do you think I am -- a millionaire?" and stomped off."

The repetition and bad manners in the poem are really quite funny. I also much enjoyed the impossible one-act poem, "Maria Stuart on Mars."

Yes, there were some wacky ones, others more serious. The first poem interested me a lot, being about Germany and Jewishness, but struck a wrong note at first. Maybe that's part of why I liked "Woman to woman" so much - the comic relief.

You can read the "Woman" piece here: http://dulcetshop.ecrater.com/p/14850554/sex-with-buildings-stephanie-barbe-hammer