There Now

Poet Billy Collins has praised "the sheer volume of delight" in poems by Grennan (e.g., Still Life with Waterfall), and readers approaching his newest collection with Collins's praise in mind will not be disappointed. Each of these single-sentence poems conveys a deep appreciation of both the natural world and the kind of hyperhyphenated compound phrasings that best capture the mysterious multiplicity of that world. Even the speaker's dreams maintain a connection to reality because he can't help but keep one eye trained on "the first felt breeze" of each day—"between Bring on more life!/ and that remorseless hunger that would end it." One could coin these poems "deep observation," a kind of offspring of poets Robert Bly, Robert Hass, and James Wright, known for "Deep Image" poetry. Not surprising, then, are nods to Li Po but also Celan, Cézanne, and Szymborska—all intense lookers.