Review- The Antigone Poems by M. Slaight and T. Tasker

[kdtaylor27]

The Antigone Poems
 Poems by Marie Slaight
Illustrations by Terrence Tasker

The Antigone Poems are meant to be read in the dark. Every turn of the page unleashes a roar of anguish.

The poems are lyrical and extravagantly subdued. They are like an old hardwood floor. You glide across just fine until, when you least expect it, a long, loud creak penetrates the eerie quiet of the empty room. 

"If this perfume doesn't burst/ It will twist into venom"

After my first read through I made the (correct) assumption that if I were to forget all I know of Oedipus' poor daughter of Sophoclean fame this book would speak clearer words. On my second read I found a whole new world. The words were better processed and easier digested. After that read, all of the connections between the play and these poems glared at me from across the room.

The poems (though well crafted) are not the reason to pick up a copy of this collection, however. The illustrations by the late Terrence Tasker will stay with you. On a walk you will see them in a well placed shadow or in the shade of some trees. They stalk you, begging you to feel their pain. I began skimming the poems on the third and fourth reads just to spend minutes analyzing every inch of the illustrations. 

I recommend this book to anyone who is a serious poet, or a lover of the simply complex in art. 
Poetry-***
Illustrations-****

-kristopher d. taylor