Round 51

Yusef: "Queen Min Bi" by Ishle Yi Park

Bob: "Snapshot from Niagara" by D. Nurske

These poems were both published in Barrow Street (the first time, I think, that two poems from the same magazine have come face to face). Yusef's choice is the more inspired: Park's portrait of the "Queen Min Bi" is outrageous, powerfully written, and memorable. I wanted to quote an especially arresting image, but found that the genius of the poem is in the accumulation of details. Some of the language is clumsy, but this does not seem to matter.

Bob seems to be growing weary. The poem about a pair of newly-weds getting their picture taken at Niagara falls presents a stock image: "two dim faces, woman, man / worn identical by happiness." Perhaps he was thinking of "be wet / with a decent happiness" when he chose this poem.

Two in a row for Yusef. After 51 Rounds:

16-26-9

[In case you're tuning in late in the game: scroll down to last Monday for the explanation of what this is all about.]