BOOK REVIEW

‘Thinking of Dinner at Lunch: Poems’ by Cole Feldman

My best experiences as a reader have happened with writers who have a deep love for language. Coincidentally, the poets who fall under that category are also open windows when it comes to sharing parts of themselves. Their humanity is in full display.

I had no idea who Cole Feldman was when he contacted me to review Thinking of Dinner at Lunch: Poems. So, after perusing his email, I decided to open a random page of his book to get a better idea of his style. The first words of “Modern Beauty” immediately caught my attention:

In a sunset, I see beauty that might have meant more, if
I had been born outdoors.

“Modern Beauty,” p. 12

It was like reading a good haiku. The imagery was vivid and multilayered. It boded well.

Well, let me say this: I read the whole book in one sitting. And I will probably re-read it more than once.

Thinking of Dinner at Lunch is divided into nine chapters: I. Grocery Stores Still Amaze Me; 2. The Only Honest Revolution; 3. Kansas; 4. Escapism; 5. A Poet Without a Muse; 6. The Other Guys; 7. Existential Anxiety; 8. Evening-Onset Thanatophobia; and 9. Ego Death. Nine is one of my favorite numbers. Wherever I see it used, I know the conversation will revolve…