Natalie Goldberg’s new poetry and painting collection, “Top of My Lungs,” manages to be earthy and ethereal simultaneously. Goldberg’s poems sparkle with the sheen of life; they reek with the stench of being human.
Poems like “Into This World” and “I Want to Say” are diamonds — cool and shiny, with crystalline, dream-like images — juxtaposed with works such as “New York Body” and “Coke and Chickens,” which explore the baser aspects of existence. “Coke and Chickens” describes a Texas heat wave, and the reader feels the heat coming off the page — the unpleasant notion of dead chickens in the sun.
Goldberg’s paintings, displayed alongside her writings, sometimes seem to melt into the poems; other times their stark differences are shocking. However, the paintings are always intriguing. “Self Portrait” stands alone on the last page, and this makes it more memorable than the others.
Goldberg is able to capture a soul’s paradoxical love/hate relationship with life by employing a single tactic: Details, details, details. She turns breakfast into a significant ritual. Licking an envelope becomes earth-shattering. It is only through these details that readers see what Goldberg is getting at. The grit of life, these small, seemingly insignificant snippets are what make up the vast, intricate painting of humanity.
The poet discusses her penchant for detail in her essay, “How Poetry Saved My Life,” which is included in the book. The essay explores Goldberg’s life and travels — everywhere from Chicago to Israel — and the writing is as soulful and engaging as any of her poetry.
Goldberg has also written several other books, including “Writing Down the Bones,” “Long Quiet Highway” and “Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World.” Her work is infused with shades of her life as a Jewish woman and student of Zen Buddhism living in New Mexico, but the themes remain universal.
Infinitely recommended, “Top of My Lungs” will grace bookstore shelves in November.
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