Door to a Noisy Room

Waldor’s deliberate, terse, sometimes wise debut shows how many emotions and situations can grow from one small set of stylistic tools. His short poems in slow, clear, clipped free-verse lines, all of which break on the phrase (“the masters failed/ to pass through/ the needles”), include lust, frustration, scenes from Jewish history, a lover’s generosity in bed, a worshipper’s ambivalence towards his God, and a son’s respect for his late father. The best poems (sometimes the shortest) bring two or more of these situations together, as in “Insurance Man” (Waldor’s father’s profession): “Shepherds always/ want a shepherd./ Even the Lord asks.” A poem about a tryst (perhaps a honeymoon) concludes by asking “Are others like me:/ ruthless and brilliant/ before love, and afterwards/ a lamb?” Another standout considers Uriah the Hittite, “loyal/ soldier, husband” from one standpoint, “enemy/ of Israel” from another. Waldor’s interests are finally less prayerful than familial, humane, and loyal to the good people and the simple delights of this world. (Jan.)