Starred review from February 1, 2021
As a poet, physician, and translator, Joudah (The Earth in the Attic) is uniquely capable of crafting language that moves fluidly between lyrical abstraction and clinical precision. The effect is something that could fairly be called scientific impressionism, and his latest work reflects his clearest application of this particular style. Using the language of astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and biology to reckon with the fundament of human existence, this new collection retains the poet's thematic preoccupations with death but here offers more expansive observation on the tricky business of living: "My lifespan doesn't clarify my consciousness./ And my revolution is in hours." Amid the headier ruminations, Joudah also leaves plenty of space for emotional heft: "Sandra Brown, Texas" offers reflection on the eponymous tragedy ("On the date/ your breath no longer tethered your body, you became/ a Cancer, proliferative, this nation's sign"), while a later poem, with the fittingly parable-like title "The Old Lady and the House," ably illustrates Joudah's concerns with humanity's sometimes beautiful, often contentious relationship with notions of the cosmos and its governing inevitability. If the technical jargon is occasionally ugly off the tongue and takes Joudah's singular linguistic alchemy a step too far, it's a minor complaint amid the collection's immense power. VERDICT Like the stars its title invokes, Joudah's latest is mysterious and ruminative, a challenging work perhaps ill suited for poetry novices but offering plenty of dark beauty for those willing to probe its cryptic depths.--Luke Gorham, Galesburg P.L., IL
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March 1, 2021
Joudah centers his fifth poetry collection on the 12 star signs and other astrological phenomena, blending his physician's penchant for precision and the poet's ear for lyricism. Joudah embodies the twin identities of Arabic scientists and artists and doesn't avoid stark realizations of misfortune and fate, such as when one speaker says flatly, "Hospice is a dollar sign." And while Joudah employs scientific terminology (trabeculations, lentiginous, Aspergillus fumigatus), the reader's corresponding research always results in new insights and greater appreciation. But what shines most brightly here is Joudah's ability to render extended imagery that plays out over several poems. An uprooted oak in one poem creates a place to plant olive pits in another. Dandelion and sunflower florets populate the pages. Butterflies lay eggs in lemon trees and enchant speakers from afar. In one example of his extraordinarily exquisite imagery, the speaker describes honeysuckle as "a jellyfish gone terrestrial with / diaphanous red petals, / anthers like a chandelier / of crisp fried crumbs / on a sushi roll." Another stellar entry in this poet's expansive body of work.
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