Donavon Davidson’s poems hinge on common phrases juxtaposed as to create the most ironic effect possible. It’s almost like being in a bar and being privy to the heavily loaded sayings of our day. But this is poetry, so the effect is a cumulative one. A build up of images forged into a sly narrative from these juxtapositions. The poems flow from one to the next as if in brief untitled chapters of a novel. Emotions are squeezed from each poem and added to the next. All these add to a puzzle in which the reader is well encouraged to solve. One might wonder what grip the lover is entangled. And perhaps trying to talk himself out of or into. As love can be as painful as it is wonderful.
The poems force us back into the vortex of what is expressed but never fully understood or acknowledged. Much like the patterns of complicated relationships in the twenty first century. My favourite lines in the poem concern rejection letters Possibly the thrust of these seventy-odd poems is a bantering at the loved one with phrases that might catch fire and charm the lover into submitting to the desires of the poet.
Here are a few lines from that poem about rejection.
dear sir with much interest
we regret to inform you
your work is not informed
by any interests
at this time
I think the major push of the poems is how rejection forces us to take unusual avenues and use common language to attain love….Ultimately the poems strive toward acceptance and how to get that accomplished. For a poet the charm is in his phrasing and the sharp edge of desire surfacing through language toward his goal. There are twists and turns on this narrow road and a fine-tuned humour leaving the reader with an edge of his own.
Donavon Davidson is the author of Everything is Conditional Love Poems (Empty City Press, 2016). Davidson has also recently received a nomination for a Pushcart Prize from Clockhouse. His poems have appeared in many online and print journals, including: Spork, Clockhouse, Thirteen Myna Birds, Anti-, Stirring, Bird’s Thumb, Sink Review, InDigest, decomP, Black Heart, Dressing Room, Pirene’s Fountain, Identity Theory, ditch, FRiGG, Softblow, Juked, Pedestal, MiPOesias, Prick of the Spindle, Word Riot, and many others.
