Book Review by BD Whitney
www.bookwenches.com/june09reviews.htm

The Shadow of a Dog I Can’t Forget is a short collection of poems and prose by Mary Kennedy Eastham. When asked to review this book, I immediately felt self-conscious and a little bit intimidated. I mean, it’s poetry, for heaven’s sake, whatever do I know about verse? In general I avoid it in favor of prose, and when I do read poetry it’s usually the rhyming kind, à la Lewis Carrol or William Shakespeare. And so it was with some trepidation that I waited for this book to arrive.

Once this volume fell into my hands, I immediately fell in love with the cover. I thought, mine, and I placed it in my briefcase and carried it around with me, just so I could stare at it and enjoy the pretty blue picture. And when I opened the cover (queen of procrastination that I am), I discovered a different world of words.

These aren’t toss away reads. Each entry encourages the reader to slow down and actually think, to process the imagery, and to perhaps even read it again. And again. Each entry tells a story, inspires an emotion, or asks a question. I’m not going to pretend that I understood each and every poem or scene. I will, however, profess to have been utterly hooked by a quite a few of them. They contained words that spoke directly to me and images that captivated me.

I dare anyone not to be moved by the poem “Forget…Move On…Remember,” written to commemorate the first anniversary of the September 11 disaster. It brought tears to my eyes. I also enjoyed the scene titled “Destiny of Joy,” in which two runaway boys, so cocky and self-assured in their newfound independence, watch jets take off, fantasize about the passengers, and slowly begin to understand the importance of family. Ms. Eastham paints such a clear picture with her words that I can clearly vision these two losing their bravado and suddenly wanting to go home. And another poem, “Points of Love,” appealed to the romantic in me. It feels like a series of vivid snapshots as it describes a New York snowstorm and several women in different stages of a romantic relationship.

In all, The Shadow of a Dog I Can’t Forget was a very pleasant surprise. Ms. Eastham is a talented artist with words, and this little volume will definitely be read and re-read in my house a number of times.

-Bobby
June 2009

Book Review by Karl Wolff

Mary Kennedy Eastham’s book, The Shadow of a Dog I Can’t Forget, contains poetry ranging from the elegiac to the erotic. The verbal economy and stunning imagery leaves you breathless while you travel among the denizens of a very strange, very beautiful Southern California landscape. Think Six Feet Under episodes set to poetic meter. The poems confront and explore issues like nature, identity, class, and desire.

In one memorable poem, “Find the Men Who Killed the Horses,” an incident about two Marines who killed 34 wild Mustangs builds in rage towards an unexpected ending:  I will tell them this is war / they must strip naked / while I use a mop to cover their bodies in Mustang blood.

She continues: ...and I will whisper to the bobcats / "Go on, find them, find the men who killed the horses"...

Eastham’s lines work their magic, infusing the scene with images, dreadful and pagan. Nature, destroyed by the rampaging Marines and their “high-powered rifles,” seeks to right the balance as bobcats are set on them. In this regard, Mother Nature is not a pacifist. The poem reminded me of “The Bear” by Galway Kinnell.

Another poem, “Stripping for Blind Men,” ends with visceral images:   I start to crawl / closer, then push away / closer, then push away / toward restless fingers snapping / me, this mind stripper, who lets hang from her panties / a velvet pouch full of eyes...

Up to that point, I found the poem mildly amusing. To strip for blind men, an activity full of whimsy and playfulness shifts suddenly to an image of horror and power, ferocious and surreal.

The book is studded with poems like these. Marilyn Monroe, loners, and other strange figures fill the book with wonder and danger. I was moved.

The Shadow also includes the short story “Delicato” and an "Ask the Author" book discussion in which Eastham tells about her inspirations and the context of her work. "Delicato" is the story of Johanna Dane losing her brother, Mica, during a flood of the Eldorado River. During Johanna's search, she meets people like Parsifal, mystic mayor of Dane's Crossing, and Sylvia Tobacco. Sylvia and Corenna Tobacco are Johanna's 90-year old neighbors. Everyone in the town is a lovable eccentric. The disaster forces these quirky individuals to band together. It is a wonderful story, the settings and characters powerfully evoked. Eastham is a master of both poetry and prose, showing the reader there is the thinnest veil separating the genres.

I look forward to reading more work by Mary Kennedy Eastham. Her poetry places a humane, dangerous, and strange perspective on the lives we live.

Book Review by Lisabet Sarai

You wouldn't guess that the title belongs to a love poem, would you? You'll find many surprises in Mary Kennedy Eastham's slim volume of poems and prose, most of them wonderful. Ms. Eastham's poetry is sharply observed and emotionally genuine. It encompasses both humor and pathos. While not all of the pieces in Shadow of a Dog are erotic, many focus on desire, love, and loss, and in particular, the power of fantasy and memory.

Poetry, like music, is a highly personal taste. When I turn on my favorite songs, my husband holds his hands to his ears. Some poems resonate, setting up harmonious vibrations of emotion. Some do not. Not everyone will enjoy Ms. Eastham's style, superficially casual but cutting to the bone. But I did.

My favorite poems in this book are the ones about love and desire. "Kissing Harrison" chronicles a fantasy relationship with a "bareback meteorite cowboy" who comes to town looking for a "good girl/bad girl" who isn't the narrator. And the dark imagery in "Stripping for Blind Men". Then there's the stunning prose/poem that opens the book, "Is there ever such a thing as a tiny betrayal?" The non-erotic poems are equally powerful "What He Did at the End of His Life" brought tears to my eyes.

Poetry is difficult to describe. It exists only as first hand experience—hence all my quotes, frustrating attempts to convey the emotional impact which, really, can only come from reading an entire poem, the way the author intended—perhaps re-reading it, a second or a third time, seeing new angles, feeling new emotions.

If the quotes above resonate with you, pick up a copy of this book. And read it more than once.