- Bernheimer and a Bonus
Alan Bernheimer
Cuneiform Press
www.cuneiformpress.com/?product=alan-bernheimer-from-nature
82 Pages; Print, $18.00
Alan Bernheimer has a new book of poetry, From Nature, out from Cuneiform Press. Bernheimer's writing has personality, an attractive sense of life, an infectious flair. There's a depth in From Nature that never betrays its consistent simplicity. Its directness should appeal to anyone looking for poetry that doesn't lean only on contemporary politics, gossip, or literary allusion. It's clear that Bernheimer writes poetry simply for the joy of doing it.
Bernheimer is important without being Important. As if to set the stage for the sparkling originality From Nature contains, he considers the possibility that not every original thought is our own, in the book's first poem "Breakfast":
Forgetting wordsThe moment youHear or read themIs one way to avoidPlagiarizing but justKeep their flavor
Certain of his lines have a way of wedging their way into the unconscious. "How do whales and dolphins sleep without drowning?" I asked myself one evening, little realizing that the source of this question was Bernheimer's "Seals Sleeping," a delightful list poem you should try reading out loud.
Bernheimer plagiarizes from life; his poems seem to contain everything in the way that only poetry can. Situations, objects, emotions, and people are all in there, but with added mystery for added truth. Take this line from "Twilight of the Trilobites": "Reality has a transparent center / Inside layers of shiny candor." Instantly I agree, without quite knowing what I'm agreeing with. Not that poetry must be about agreement. And it's not like I want to translate why "Only the mercury is true" (from "The Truth About More"). Or why the seemingly obvious "A guy with imagination gets pictures in his head," is new and necessary to read. [End Page 27]
In From Nature, Bernheimer has found a way to balance intellectual/objective and emotional/ subjective wisdom. This is the entirety that poetry and other art forms suggest at their best. Bernheimer is heir to Duchamp's serious/not-serious stance as a creative intellectual. Bernheimer turns conventional poetic approaches on their heads, though never cynically. His poems express a deep love of language, perception, and life itself.
This stanza series (from "Ipsatude") is an example of Bernheimer's balanced (cool/warm; emotional/intellectual) M.O. (with a heart-smasher in stanza two): Bernheimer has been at it for a long time, unhurried if not circumspect. As with his previous work, From Nature is a good mix of levity with hints of total displeasure that entertain. (It's often entertaining to hear complaints from someone sincere and generously intelligent). That's about as honest as you can get.
Intrigue each otherOut on limbPostcard touch
Steps to wipeAway your imageCame to grief
More than thisLike as notLid off life
As always, reading Bernheimer is like hanging out with a friend who operates just a few paces ahead of you—exciting, stimulating, clever and maddeningly astute. "People want to be / Spoken to as a snowflake" ("History of Happiness"). He produces lines that you know you've sensed but didn't have the sense to articulate. But you'll be murmuring them to yourself from now on.
________
Reading poetry as stimulating, rich, and entertaining as this can leave a reader wanting more. Who hasn't wanted to climb into the author's head after we close their book? Being that this was a collaborative review, we thought it might be fun to include Alan's voice in the mix—his perspective, tone, and maybe a secret or two. (We hasten to add: you don't need context for this or any good poetry.) We formulated the following series of questions that we've always wanted to ask and submitted them to Alan via email. And lucky for us, Bernheimer is every bit as genial and bright as his poems, so this is just a bonus.
What would you say to a poetry-averse person, to persuade them to give it...