Julie Ehlers's Reviews > Ramshackle Ode

The title of Ramshackle Ode and that confetti-like riot of color on the cover pretty much telegraph that the reader is in for a life-affirming experience, and the very first poem, "Keel," sets the tone:

...I was walking your dog,
Love, thinking how I, too,
have been boot-thudded
by love, I was my own
storm once, so young
and eager to raise the sail
of my wanting, and I just wanted
to tell you I love this old boat,
this settled-in thing.

Right away you can tell: Here is someone who's able to appreciate the moment he's in. He's not here to weigh us down with a lot of angst; he's here to celebrate, to write odes to the life he's living. Admittedly, this sounds a bit insufferable, but it's actually quite charming. In a few instances, he dedicates poems to his friends and actually addresses those friends in the verse, as in "Ode to Alternatives":

Hey Kevin, I know
I'm always talking,
but look at those
two little boys who
don't know any better--
they're using a king
as a pawn, a pawn
as a knight, a queen
as a bishop--and isn't
not knowing the rules
just beautiful?

Or in "Ode to the Odes":

Hey Steve, do you ever think
to write a letter
to the board of selectmen
elected to the blue city
our language makes?

And if that bit seems a little esoteric to you, a little further on in the poem he rhapsodizes:

...I don't know
if I'm making much sense here,
but this morning
my honey bunny
kissed me on the lips
all skunk breath and beautiful.
And Steve, does it ever come to you
like a vanilla-scented wind--
this happiness?

Aw, that's sweet, right? Maybe a little too sweet? How about this, from "A Brief History of Patience"?

Nights, I would wait for the first fish
to swallow the hook. The trick, I learned,
was not to force it, was to let the fish feel the pain
that comes from blindness and mistake.

Whoa, dude! I was not expecting that! A little harsh, don't you think? But not really. It's true. It's life. And in fact, there's darkness woven throughout this collection, as there is in life, but it never overwhelms the buoyant spirit that makes this collection so much fun, and such a joy to read.

I won Ramshackle Ode, Keith Leonard's first collection, via a giveaway on Instagram. There was no expectation of any sort of review. Thank you to the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for introducing me to this poet. I'm grateful to have made his acquaintance.