Review Short: Tony Linterman's 'Weather Walks In'

Abstract

I think of plainsong when I read Lintermans's poems, of cadences unadorned by instrumentation but satisfying in their sound and rhythm. They are by no means Gregorian chants, but they still offer the calmness and sonority of such songs. This peacefulness begins with the physical appearance of the book. A yellow cover with blue type: the typeface like a manual typewriter. Apostrophes are rain drops. It's a simple but effective design. Inside, the poems are laid out equally as simply and effectively. The acknowledgements show that quite a few of the poems have been published previously in various journals and one, 'Self-portrait at sixty', was the winner of the 2011 Peter Porter Poetry Prize. This poem gives the book its title. The poet answers a series of questions to himself. The fifth stanza reads: "When am I happy? In the sea, always, in the sea on a wave in the sea. When the backhand winner bludgeons doubt. When doors are open and weather walks in -- cumulus drama of women, cirrus blokes streaking the high days with laughter."