Boruch’s superb instinct for the structure of free verse and her fine eye for daily life have won her national respect: this first outing since Poems: New and Selected
(2004) confirms those strengths. Many of the poems here imitate the visual arts—one is titled “Still Life”; the poem “Ladder Against a House” aspires to a photograph, while “Seven Aubades for Summer” incorporates a daily record of outdoor scenes. Boruch’s best moments combine disarming observation with abstraction and quiet humor: touring a zoo, she declares, “In this saddest of worlds, think/ lunch!
And an ocean of hope/ rides over us.” Few readers will come away unimpressed by the supple care Boruch takes in depicting her everyday scenes. And yet there are few surprises. (Feb.)
