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The Trouble with
This Harvest
This Harvest
Where the Apple Falls by Samiya Bashir
Film director David Lynch has received multiple
Academy Award nominations in his career; two
of them come from films that earned raves from
critics, but left audiences scratching their
heads. His 1986 film Blue Velvet, about the
seemy underworld in a small idealistic lumber
town, and 2001's Mulholland Drive, a Hollywood
story that resembles a sick, dreamy, but modern
version of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, have
caused multiple debates on their meanings. It is
not Lynch’s scripts, but his visual images, like a
moving painting, that inspire these spirited
interpretations.
Like Lynch, Samiya Bashir’s debut work Where
the Apple Falls, could easily be placed into this
category. While it is plainly clear that Bashir is
talented, her poetry also like a moving painting,
it is also clear that she is striving hard to define
her individual voice. Perhaps too hard.
It is understandable why Redbone Press, known
widely for its award winning titles and successful
production of original voices, would choose
Bashir to follow its previously published authors,
the amazing Sharon Bridgforth and the spare
but effectively pointed Marvin K. White. Bashir
is excellent with language, and she loves to
prove how she can bend and shape words,
forcing them to mean whatever she deems them
to. That, however, is the problem. The
showcasing of her abilities block the
accessibility of the poetry.
White’s work, as showcased in both Nothin’ Ugly
Fly and last rites, displays his ability at reducing
poetry down to its most pure state to yield a raw
and direct concoction. Bridgforth offers a
simple, original feast in every line–sometimes in
nearly every word. With Where the Apple Falls,
it is as if Bashir has produced a gourmet
Thanksgiving dinner for every day of the week,
and that distraction subtracts from the
willingness to understand her poetry’s meaning.
In some instances, the poems are too coy and
slippery to yield definition.
Be that as it may, there is no denying Bashir’s
talent. Confidence shines through her poetry
like a beacon, and there is a smartness to her
writing that puts all on notice that this is the start
of a long career, that she will not be silenced,
and that she has a lot to say. Of the poetry in
this book that will stand the test of time is the
amazing Of Saints and Suppers, Reach, Power,
Core, and Toward the Coming Night. Her poem
Clitigation, like poet C.C. Carter’s Hips, is
destined to fall in line as one of Bashir’s
signature works, as she seems headstrong on
building herself an impressive cannon. No
matter what. P&A
Academy Award nominations in his career; two
of them come from films that earned raves from
critics, but left audiences scratching their
heads. His 1986 film Blue Velvet, about the
seemy underworld in a small idealistic lumber
town, and 2001's Mulholland Drive, a Hollywood
story that resembles a sick, dreamy, but modern
version of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, have
caused multiple debates on their meanings. It is
not Lynch’s scripts, but his visual images, like a
moving painting, that inspire these spirited
interpretations.
Like Lynch, Samiya Bashir’s debut work Where
the Apple Falls, could easily be placed into this
category. While it is plainly clear that Bashir is
talented, her poetry also like a moving painting,
it is also clear that she is striving hard to define
her individual voice. Perhaps too hard.
It is understandable why Redbone Press, known
widely for its award winning titles and successful
production of original voices, would choose
Bashir to follow its previously published authors,
the amazing Sharon Bridgforth and the spare
but effectively pointed Marvin K. White. Bashir
is excellent with language, and she loves to
prove how she can bend and shape words,
forcing them to mean whatever she deems them
to. That, however, is the problem. The
showcasing of her abilities block the
accessibility of the poetry.
White’s work, as showcased in both Nothin’ Ugly
Fly and last rites, displays his ability at reducing
poetry down to its most pure state to yield a raw
and direct concoction. Bridgforth offers a
simple, original feast in every line–sometimes in
nearly every word. With Where the Apple Falls,
it is as if Bashir has produced a gourmet
Thanksgiving dinner for every day of the week,
and that distraction subtracts from the
willingness to understand her poetry’s meaning.
In some instances, the poems are too coy and
slippery to yield definition.
Be that as it may, there is no denying Bashir’s
talent. Confidence shines through her poetry
like a beacon, and there is a smartness to her
writing that puts all on notice that this is the start
of a long career, that she will not be silenced,
and that she has a lot to say. Of the poetry in
this book that will stand the test of time is the
amazing Of Saints and Suppers, Reach, Power,
Core, and Toward the Coming Night. Her poem
Clitigation, like poet C.C. Carter’s Hips, is
destined to fall in line as one of Bashir’s
signature works, as she seems headstrong on
building herself an impressive cannon. No
matter what. P&A
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