Book Title:  ths is erth thees are peopul

Author:  bill bissett

Publishing Company:  Talonbooks (www.talonbooks.com)

Year:  2007

# of Pages: 144

ISBN #:  978-0-88922-557-2

$17.95 Canada

$17.95 USA 

3 ½ stars 

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner           

This new collection from bill bissett offers reflections on our present world of terrorist attacks, war, uncertainty and even “big box” stores.  Known for his readings with enthusiasm, dance and chant, bissett is a poet whose work is best enjoyed in performance.  But his poems, using phonetic spelling, lacking capitalization and punctuation, are a visual art form as well.             

I confess to finding the phonetic spelling to be a difficult “read.”  Perhaps I am too dependent on the structure of capitalization, spelling and punctuation, and, unaccustomed to the lack of these guideposts, I had to read the poems several times—especially aloud—before they reached me.  Perhaps I suffer from a condition described by bissett:  

“we try 2 kontrol what we think

is chaos by pretending thr can b ordr”           

Once I overcame my need for the familiar, for my perceptions of order, the messages reached me.  Clearly, bissett is writing for these times: 

“inteligens is usd

2 kill quiklee

2 kill slowlee

2 xpand territoreez

2 shrink th spirit

2 prolong life

2 help th spirit

2 begin life

2 end life

2 destroy

. . .

n yet we ar having a hard time

saving th bananas n beez” 

But this is not a collection voicing only despair.  Insight in the human condition is ever present, as in the words: 

“whos life isint sum successyun uv 

doomd dramas n slapstik

poignant n tragik comedeez” 

And there is still hope to be found, as bissett writes of love: 

“whn we look in

sum wuns eyez n see th fire n never

want 2 leev erth if being heer is 2 hang

with ths prson 4 longr” 

My favorite of the collection is his poem of a nightmare in which the people demanded: 

“WE WANT MR POETREE

th big box stores ar ruining life

wher is all

th poetree we want 2 b abul 2 think

reeson poetree duz that with us”  

Why is this a poet's nightmare?  Because, bissett writes: 

“we cant keep up with th demand 4 poetree

th beautiful independent stores publishrs

th poets we cant supply th demand 4

poetree wer writing all day n nite

the urgensee th NEED 4 POETREE.” 

These are times when poetry is needed, and, in this collection, bissett offers a voice for our uncertainties, our fears and our hopes.