Syllabus of Errors: Poems

Jollimore (At Lake Scugog), a professor of philosophy at California State University, Chico, delivers philosophical ideas through beautifully crafted language in a third full-length collection of poignant poems that draw attention to what it means to think and feel in this world. The forms vary throughout the collection, but the apparent compositional exactitude Jollimore displays belies the subtlety of their function, leaving the reader with the impression that the poet possesses some deeper secret than any quick read could reveal. Jollimore’s poems achieve such character through his simplicity of language and clarity of imagery, and he slyly hints at what lies beneath when he writes, “As if beauty/ itself were but a syllabus of errors.” The “errors” that litter his pages—forms that don’t quite fit, extra syllables in lines, unfinished images—drive home the sentiment that being human might just be the amalgamation of small imperfections, and that these mistakes are what signal real beauty. But beauty takes great focus and effort to achieve: “I feel/ like a swimmer, who has/ ventured too far out, and who// is drowning in language,/ and my own cries/ for help are smothering me.” Jollimore combines the passion and wonderment of language with the stark observations that drive human curiosity. (Oct.)