Figuring in the Figure

Stand your ground and make thoughtful observations—carefully, and with aplomb. Ben Berman repeatedly delivers on this not-so-easy dictum. He ain’t no bum.

A fan of Dante’s terza rima rhyme schemes, Berman’s early book, Strange Borderlands, won the Peace Corps Award for Best Book of Poetry. He edits Solstice Literary Magazine and teaches around Boston.

The Game

Matopos, Zimbabwe

The jungle, to us, was this big carnival
where you could shoot photos of gnus
snuggling with their adorable calves,

but our cameras must have looked like guns,
and those wildebeests stopped grazing on ferns
and began instead to snort and moo and grunt.

Still, not until one hunched down on all fours,
lowered its gangly mane and then charged
did we see not furry but fury,

realize the game had suddenly changed.

Reviewed by Matt Sutherland

Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

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