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by ellen 65 Poems/ 101 Pages $16.00 Tebot Bach www.tebotbach.org Reviewed by: Ed Bennett A reader expects a good book of poetry to have a theme. Reading the individual poems, one pieces together the words and imagery to find the poet's vision. Sacrifices Have to be Human approaches this from a different viewpoint. These poems of love and loss are intertwined with each other, juxtaposed against each other to form a web of emotion that surrounds this poet's world. The poems are conversational in tone and lean away from the usual pyrotechnics of language that sometimes erupt in other collections. At times, the poems form a linear progression of images, as in "Perched Birds"and "Something Forbids Pleasure" where the images of birds and women seem to dominate the poems. At that point time seems to reverse abruptly with "Ã Widow in the Window"moving toward "Five Stages of Grieving" to "Woman Walks Four Hours After Giving Birth". The story of our human condition is portrayed by a widow's grieving silhouette framed in the solitude of her home to the general description of grief to the wonder of birth. One is reminded of Janne Teller's quote "From the moment we are born, we begin to die". Sacrifices Have to be Human is an eclectic collection of poems that are at once deeply prophetic yet searingly intimate. The poet, ellen, is an artist as well, as is seen in her colorful descriptions of her environs. She has the ability to present both the familiar as well as her own vivid imaginings of her inner world. This is no easy feat, but she carries it out superbly.
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