Marvelous Things Overheard
Poems
Ange Mlinko
- A
- vibrant
- and
- eclectic
- collection
- from
- a
- stunningly
- mature
- young
- poet"The
- world—the
- time
- has
- come
- to
- say
- it,
- though
- the
- news
- will
- not
- be
- welcome
- to
- everyone—has
- no
- intention
- of
- abandoning
- enchantment
- altogether."
- Roberto
- Calasso's
- words
- in
- Literature
- and
- the
- Gods
- remind
- us
- that,
- in
- an
- age
- of
- reason,
- of
- mechanization,
- of
- alienation,
- of
- rote
- drudgery,
- we
- still
- seek
- out
- the
- transcendent,
- the
- marvelous.
- Ange
- Mlinko's
- luminous
- fourth
- collection
- is
- both
- a
- journey
- toward
- and
- the
- space
- of
- that
- very
- enchantment.
Marvelous
- Things
- Overheard
- takes
- its
- title
- from
- a
- collection
- of
- ancient
- rumors
- about
- the
- lands
- of
- the
- Mediterranean.
- Mlinko,
- who
- lived
- at
- the
- American
- University
- of
- Beirut
- and
- traveled
- to
- Greece
- and
- Cyprus,
- has
- penned
- poems
- that
- seesaw
- between
- the
- life
- lived
- in
- those
- ancient
- and
- strife-torn
- places,
- and
- the
- life
- imagined
- through
- its
- literature:
- from
- The
- Greek
- Anthology
- to
- the
- Mu'allaqat.
- Throughout,
- Mlinko
- grapples
- with
- the
- passage
- of
- time
- on
- two
- levels:
- her
- own
- aging
- (alongside
- the
- growing
- up
- of
- her
- children)
- and
- the
- incontrovertible
- evidence
- of
- millennia
- of
- human
- habitation.
This
- is
- an
- assured
- and
- revealing
- collection,
- one
- that
- readers
- will
- want
- to
- seek
- refuge
- in
- again
- and again.
