Author: Jessy Randall
Title: There Was an Old Woman: Poems
Publication Info: Unicorn Press, December 2015
Summary/Review:
Jessy Randall, the Curator of Special Collections at Colorado College, and blogger at Library Shenanigans used her librarian skills to track me down and offer me free copies of her books in exchange for an honest review. While I’ve never quite figured out how to review poetry, I’ll give it my best shot!
In this volume each poem starts with a line from a Mother Goose rhyme, usually “There was an old woman…” and then goes off entirely different direction. Usually there’s an anachronism putting that old woman in contemporary times with modern sensibilities, with no shortage of feminism. Sometimes it’s a lot more absurdist or has meta-commentary on nursery rhymes. But each poem is quirky and funny. I enjoyed this book
Recommended books: Cow Poetry and Other Notes From the Field by M Frost and The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde
Rating: ***1/2