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 Glass Paperweight Dec 26, 2007
By Lois Ascher
Dennis Rush's Glass Paperweight opens with a quote from Joseph Campbell: "I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive", and that is what his book of verse does. It records the poetry in the mundane prose of everyday life. In providing us with glimpses of fleeting personal moments Rush's poems present a mirror of daily existence which, through his conscious eye, reminds us that the journey we take on this planet is at once uniquely separate and communal. Whether read as individual pieces or as a unified narrative, and they can be read either way, the poems provide a record of the touching fragility that accompanies our daily efforts to negotiate existence.
The labor of Dennis Rush and his love for his craft Jun 15, 2008
By Midwest Book Review
The labors of over a decade of writing -"Glass Paperweight" is the labor of Dennis Rush and his love for his craft, staying up long nights for days on end to get his compositions done due to dealing with his numerous children - something everyone knows is not easy to deal with. "Glass Paperweight" is highly recommended to community library poetry collections Above Her Waist: She looks like a child/so small and her skin so smooth/the innocent girl//I like her despair/her terrible attitude/last nights performance//how her eyes squinted/the way she held her papers/just above her waist//the light on her blouse/revealing precise nipples/casting small shadows.
Of a glass paperweight Feb 15, 2008
By James Steele
The poet begins and ends this book watching. We're given 63 short poems of acute observation on images observed, some imagined, some unimaginable.
These poems are absent of punctuation and capitalization (often an affectation in modern poetry), but the reader is quick to recognize the device (or lack thereof) as the natural and quiet expression of the voice that throughout the book never disturbs the objects of observation. Though full of intimacy and humor, there is a separation--however slight--between the observer and the observed. The poems are awash in imagery of water and glass, something, transparent though it is, stands between the watcher and the watched. Early on in the book we're treated to a memory of a boy who happens upon a girl, nude, dressing, seen through a window, through a "crack in the curtain." This caught me as the essence of the book--the poet peering through, unseen but seeing, experiencing an intimacy the object of his interest may never be aware of. He tells us he ". . . peered through the window/until she was dressed." The voice here is that of someone who wants to see, who even if it is a suicide, crushed on the train tracks, he would "want to look . . . for the sake of art.
In one poem the poet asks:
who is the owner
of the dog
that keeps barking at meaningless things
An image that stands in contrast to the voice througout this work. One comes to know "the owner" of the poems who may wryly or lovingly observe, but not bark, who quietly sees, without touching, and never uncovers "meaningless things."
This is a delightful read, one that on the second, third, fourth reading yields more and more. I heartily recommend it.
Not your average book of poetry Feb 08, 2008
By Kevin R. Johnson
Glass Paperweight is not your average book of poetry. Each page is a story unto itself, but taken as a whole it weaves a thought provoking picture of life lived as a mere observer, always through the safety of some form of barrier, some real, some symbolic. For example, take the scorpion in the paperweight pictured on the cover. It seems to symbolize a dangerous life that is safe only because it is contained. Not that everyone on MySpace or Facebook is dangerous, but it seems people these days are putting themselves in glass orbs and trying to build relationships from behind those barriers. It's this increasingly effective world of wanting to be examined without being "touched" that is poignantly alluded to throughout this first of hopefully many books by Dennis Rush.
Great poet Feb 07, 2008
By Nik Colyer
Dennis Rush leaps into the forefront of my awareness with poems that are not only emotionally honest, his raw, naked truths are evidence of a man working directly from his poetic heart.
Nik C. Colyer
Author of the Channeling Biker Bob novel series
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