In a riptide

funny while serious, wise without being certain, full of feeling and yet rinsed of sentimentality.

the characters in ronna bloom's new collection in a riptide are tired, sick, old, fragile, baffled, worried, dying, dead, uncertain, snacking, happy, generous, preoccupied, horny, astonished, and sometimes free. emily dickinson and bukowski show up in the same poem. the buddha has a shower. and sisyphus is released from his burdens. it's the hospital meets the circus. here, humour, darkness, and ecstasy mingle, and the chaos doesn't stop. but there's breath in these poems. there’s life.