Blue Coffee: Poems 1985-1996

Mitchell, a novelist, playwright and lyricist who was first known in England as a pop and protest poet in the late '60s, will be 65 this year. The 180 poems here, many short, are arranged by theme (social commentary, poetry/arts, nature, etc.) and vary in quality. ""Blood and Oil"" decries Britain's military presence around the world as motivated largely by greed. Mitchell notes that most of the works ""have been performed before being printed,"" a key to both their strength and weaknesses. The poems have the vigor of live performances, but often seem ephemeral, or directed to a large audience so that skill and mastery sometime slip into slapdash glibness. On more personal subjects--family and friends, animals and pets--he sets aside self-conscious posing and is at his best. Two poems, both about his penis, are informed with his disarming, conversational humor: ""A Puppy Called Puberty"" (""Jumping up, wet-nosed, eagerly wagging/ he only stopped being a nuisance/ when you were alone together"") and in ""A Dog Called Elderly"" part of himself only wants to ""spend the rest of his lifetime/ sleeping on my lap in front of the fire""). (Oct.)