The Shine Poems

by Calvin Forbes

Louisiana State University Press

April 2002, $15.95, ISBN 0-8071-2666-7

This collection of poetry is divided into four different sections, and begins with reflective poems that speak of a "forty something" man's experience with language, which moves through nostalgic moments with clarity and music that is rooted in jazz and blues traditions. In these three lines from the poem "Three Folk Songs," Forbes sums up the relationship of human-to-human, and words- to-poetry:

"Good poems are like some people

sometimes I can't remember their

names only how they make me feel"

In the second section, Forbes combines poetry that reflects his inner voice with insight from others' stories, in a narrative style that not only captures the color and timing of a moment but also the inherent surprise that is real life. Poems such as "Two" or "More Conversations" are incredulous, innocent, playful, inquisitive, quietly angry, erotic, and truthful.

"let me get this straight

first you lied to me

now you mad at me

because I believed you"

In the third and fourth sections, Forbes joins in a universal dialogue of poets and philosophers who challenge the construct and confines of language. In this world, nothing is ever what it seems, and any thinking to the contrary is at best enlightening, usually humbling and occasionally dangerous. In this section, poems such as "Oreo," "Picture of a Man" and "Facts" reach like a coal miner into a world where language collides with reality to form new paradigms.

"Survey says: people consume more

FACTS

than are good for them."

The final section introduces the resurrected "Shine," an African-American folk character. In his new life, Shine meets Glow, a lady DJ. Each of these poems is a sensual portrait of his love for her. Here, Shine grapples with the specter of his death, his travels through time and a ghost life.

"Outward he was mostly

Only red-eyed

And just the same Shining."

At the end of the collection is "A Little Poem," which stands in as Shine's reprieve in the guise of his love for his son Shade. There is nothing for Shine to negotiate here but hope, through the eyes of his son: "A man can live up/to what he's bringing up/a man can be a child/a child can't be a man/ this is why the son/had shine for his father."