Life in a Field: Poems

Peterson (A Piece of Good News) collaborates with her photographer husband for this experimental pseudo-narrative. Rife with paradoxes and conceits that will leave some readers confounded and others enraptured, Peterson’s collection is driven by a detached and unhurried eloquence. A donkey, a girl, and a field serve as allegories that propel a loose pastoral portrait and droll commentary on existentialism, absurdity, avarice, and compassion. Readers must curb their typical expectations for a work of poetry, which Peterson explicitly asserts, “this story is not your story. You are not meant to relate to it./ You are meant to pitch a tent inside this page.” She furthermore affirms that her idiosyncratic approach serves as a mimesis of the “sudden changes of world. It does not necessarily/ mean plot.” As for Suh’s photography, the images soundly compliment the milieu of the text. Peterson’s incontestable innovation and wit will stir the imaginations of readers, expanding their sense of what is possible in poetry. (Apr.)