The Daily Glance
Katy Lederer's The Heaven-Sent Leaf reminds me quite a bit of the first edition of Leaves of Grass. What? Well, Lederer is a fan of anaphora and apostrophe. The front cover is green with a picture of roots, and the book seems tied to New York. The speaker comments on the poet versus the push for money (perhaps for daily things in Whitman's words). Moreover, there's a 19th century feel to the style. I've seen the same thing pop up in writers like Jennifer Moxley (see The Middle Room). Granted, there are significant differences. One, the poems have titles. Two, Whitman does not put his name on the cover. Three, Whitman looks like a "rustic" in his picture, but Lederer looks like a model in hers. Fourth, Lederer keeps her poems short (she seems to have a fascination with the 13 line poem**). Still, the "I" is clear in both books. In Lederer's book, the "I" seems like she's just living in a different period when things are not so certain--she's an "I" who is more jaded.
**13 lines--should we skip the 13 and make it 14? A sonnet like a high-rise?
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