A Daily Glance
Evie Shockley's a half-red sea starts with an exploration of the past and moves towards the present and personal experience. While this progression is interesting, what strikes me with Shockley's work is not the subject matter but the sound. I remember hearing Lucille Clifton read over ten years ago in New Orleans, and every time she finished a poem, the crowd as a whole made noises like "yeah" or "hmmm." I feel like that with Shockley's poems. She has a good sense of pace. She pulls us along smoothly and then throws in some stops to make it feel like drum tapping. In actuality, I just like sitting back and listening to these pieces.**
**Yes, I do have different modes of sitting for different poets.
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