Winter, review
by Elizabeth Johnston, The Montreal Gazette
Carolyn Zonailo explores alienation,
a popular theme of modern poetry. In varying degrees we’re
alienated from ourselves, each other and our society. Yet…this
modern malaise is conflated with an ancient preoccupation, fate.
Zonailo probes her environment
in an effort to provide a context for what she sees around her:
a chilling alienation between people and cultures.
after the revolution
after we separate
after we become better
than
you
we’ll own everything
Zonailo’s poems reveal how
easy it is to fall through the cracks of such faulty logic. In
order to understand what’s happening now, Zonailo travels
to Hell and back incorporating the likes of Jim Morrison and Persephone
into her cold poetic landscape to show that “after”
is a dangerous and ultimately barren concept.
One of the great things about the
drama festivals in ancient times, was that they provided a forum
for political discussion and social action. Zonailo’s chapbook
laments society’s alienation from its own poetry and reflects
the chilling apathy of the age.
Copyright by Elizabeth Johnston: www.carolynzonailo.com,
2004. |
The
Wave Goddess
