Medical Aid and Other Poems

Donald Jones

Amusing note: the book is actually, unlike most books whose titles are structures thus, into two parts: the longpoem/short collection “Medical Aid” and “Other Poems.” I found it worth remarking on, if only because it is rare (and offers the reader a chance to think about why so few other books do this).

I don't really know what to say about Medical Aid and Other Poems. The book was rather inconsistent; some pieces truly shone, while others just sat there looking dull. But I have praised other books with this trait before. The poetry itself is solid, which given the year of release of this book is actually rather astounding; the late sixties turned out a thousand Jim Morrisons or Hugh Prathers for every Richard Howard, and Jones is most certainly in the latter camp. Rare is the time Jones lets the message overtake the medium, similarly rare in a book of poems that's so laced through with sociopolitical activism.

So why is this book not getting four, four and a half, five stars?

I have been mulling this question over for three and a half weeks now, trying to find an answer. And the simple truth of it is that I don't have one. There is no good reason why this book, so solid in its construction and at times so delicate in its art, should have left me flat. But for some reason, that is exactly what happened with it. Not to say it isn't worth reading. It most certainly is. But it seems that it is as forgettable, as unremarkable, as it is readable. I have no explanation for this oddity.