This collection of poems does not
stand out against any other
divorce-subject-repairing-what’s-broken-to-begin-again cliché of the middle
aged woman’s journal entry poetry. Recurring
themes like divorce, making cornbread, and going to the movies are all ordinary
and uninteresting topics. Granted,
Barker does make cornmeal muffins sound very intriguing. Like in the poem, “De Nada” the reader sees
both “yellowing in the park” and “yellowed waves”. I get bored reading two different adjectives
only to describe nature.
Barker’s voice is not distinct enough to put herself aside from other
nature poets.
