{"id":910,"date":"2022-12-07T16:29:34","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T21:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/?p=910"},"modified":"2025-02-22T09:47:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T14:47:01","slug":"poetry-review-the-pact-by-jennifer-militello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/poetry-review-the-pact-by-jennifer-militello\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: On The Pact by Jennifer Militello No. 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Pact<\/em> <\/em>by Jennifer Militello. North Adams, Massachusetts: Tupelo Press, 021. 80 pages. $19.95, print. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pact by Jennifer\u00a0Militello\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0fantastic\u00a0collection of poems\u00a0tackling provocative themes: complex relationships, places of vulnerability, love, and danger.\u00a0The clich\u00e9 of never judging a book by its cover does not apply here\u2014a\u00a0Venus\u00a0flytrap on a black backdrop furthers this essence of hunger or longing in this collection but also the way relationships tend to fall into assumed roles: one might become a fly, the other becomes a carnivorous plant or a carnivore.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first section delves into sibling relationships and the symbiotic love required for them to operate optimally. There\u2019s an honesty to these poems that\u00a0does\u00a0not quibble over issues of blame but focuses\u00a0on the complexity of the relationships using extended metaphors through the Medusa myth or Frankenstein\u2019s Monster. The poems explore the relationships in ways that indicate a sense of progress even if situated in what might appear to be a relationship\u00a0in need of\u00a0repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second segment is devoted to love poems and sexuality. Here,\u00a0Militello\u00a0uses clever linguistic plays:\u00a0\u201cw (he) e\u201d and \u201ccom-pair\u201d in \u201cErotomania.\u201d This playful reconstruction of language is fitting in what appears to be a seductive exchange of power\u00a0dynamics which dives into the full scope of a relationship cycle.\u00a0Subjects\u00a0explored include\u00a0\u201cOdaxelagnia,\u201d\u00a0the act of biting during sex\u00a0leading\u00a0to sexual arousal; this\u00a0seductive\u00a0poem\u00a0is one of a kind\u2014honest and maybe dangerous in\u00a0a\u00a0good way. The poem \u201cThe Punishment of One is the Love Song of Another,\u201d demonstrates this grappling between love\u00a0and\u00a0loss most clearly and is indicative of a vulnerability\u00a0that is\u00a0exceptionally\u00a0beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third segment is rather robust. The poem \u201cTough Love in A Vulgar Tongue\u201d with its lipogramatic and alliterative functions brings about a playfulness but also a tough love for the poetic craft. Numerous poems in this segment reflect on the writer\u2019s relationship with her mother. The poem that gave this collection its namesake, addresses the mother: \u201cMother, your grand chandelier\/of lies has so many eyes it sees the spider or a fly in every\/direction; it decides, goes for miles.\u201d (52). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This collection has teeth. It was written by a carnivore but also an\u00a0herbivore, unafraid of expressing vulnerability,\u00a0and the alternation between personas takes the reader on a wildly seductive ride that\u2019s exciting and provocative. There is a mastery of language happening in this work that gives the thematic elements a boost of steroids,\u00a0and the poems almost read themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Michael Morris, MAR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pact by Jennifer Militello. North Adams, Massachusetts: Tupelo Press, 021. 80 pages. $19.95, print.  The Pact by Jennifer\u00a0Militello\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0fantastic\u00a0collection of poems\u00a0tackling provocative themes: complex… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1661,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions\/1661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casit.bgsu.edu\/marblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}