Last Exposures: A Sequence of Poems

Cathryn Hankla

In the interest of full disclosure, Cathy Hankla was a creative writing teacher of mine, more years ago than I'm sure either of us care to remember, and the chances of my being able to write an unbiased review are pretty much nil. I usually at least attempt objectivity; here I'm going to be too busy trying to avoid embarrassing myself. This, of course, ensures that I will.

When I started my reading of the past few months, I had no idea I'd be spending so much time reading about people who'd recently lost parents and were dealing with the emotional fallout. Odd coincidences like this seem to occur in my reading on a frequent basis. And so here I am, writing my third review on the subject in the past month. (And my second in the past thirty minutes.) The focus here is a series of snapshots in an old camera; Hankla intersperses pieces about the landscapes depicted in the photographs with pieces about more internal landscapes. Everything ties in, of course; you may wonder how, at first, but it all comes around again eventually. The subtitle of the book is "A Sequence of Poems," and that's something to keep in the back of your head; everything here is related. Looking for connections is a good thing here.

This is very good stuff, measured, introspective, and well worth your time. Recommended, and not just because it's the work of a former teacher.