Applause

With subtlety and intelligence, Muske ( Camouflage ) creates tensions that are chilling and sharp; she limns emotional and physical distances, unavoidable ambiguity and contradiction. Her acceptance of these ``issues'' is never passive--this collection is rife with questions, doubts, reluctant resignations. A 12-part title poem explores the ritual and symbolism suggested by applause: ``I am the one watching / you and saying it is good, making my two hands the collision of /love and power.'' The volume's other poems don't match the title work in potency, breadth and originality; the language can be dense and cluttered, the ideas murky. Though she chooses exotic details, Muske doesn't sufficiently elucidate their purpose in the poems; the narratives as a whole don't support the richness and weight of these particulars. (May)