Review of my poetry collection, "Letters to My Father" by George Swede

This review will appear in the May 2017 issue of Verse Afire, the publication of the Ontario Poetry Society

Review by George Swede

Letters To My Father                                                                                        

?by B?noo Zan

Piquant Press, 2017, 50pp

ISBN: 9781927396100

According to the book’s introduction, B?noo Zan emigrated from Iran to Canada in 2010. Two years later, her father, Parviz Ghanbaralizadeh, died in Iran at the age of 75, but Zan did not return for any of the memorial services.

The collection’s 41 poems are successive wails of anguish, the kind expressed at funerals in some cultures. The laments vary from love, to accusation, to anger, to self-loathing and doubt.

I thought I was no / worshipper // but love is / an idol / I will not break

Was that the man / you wanted to be // hated by the woman / who loved you // The fists on her head / pound on your grave

I failed you— / Father— / when you failed me // and I have not / forgiven myself / for forgiving you

If you ever loved me / wish me broken // sharp wounds / cutting my hands // free from me

Each of the poems from which these lines come are powerful throughout, as are all the others not quoted from. But, readers who take in all 41 at once might soon become numbed, similar to what would happen if we listened to the wails of funeral mourners for more than a short while. Zan’s spare, but surprising juxtapositions evoke intense emotions that begin to deplete our resources for empathy and compassion. For this reason, I suggest reading this book a few poems at a time

To order your copy of this collection of deep, heartfelt poems, send $18.50 to Piquant Press, 13240 Mast Road, Port Perry, Ont. L9L 1B5. You can also order it from Amazon.

https://piquantpress.ca/piquantpress/letters-to-my-father/