Laertes In America

Stephen M. Honig’s fourth book of poetry, written over the eighteen months just prior to our favorite pandemic, contains works speculating on the struggling state of America, the tensions of modern life, the curative impact of nature, the search for self and for God, and the function of age as a preparation for death. From a wandering Laertes, bridging Greek classical literature with Shakespeare’s lethal swordsman, to the melancholy decay of marriage and life force, this rambling exploration on who we are, and where we are going, captures the mood of things just prior to COVID’s perceptual upheaval, a time when things were allegedly brighter and easier and yet – nothing is easy. Some somber moments echo the sardonic pessimism of the author’s recent collection of short stories, Noir Ain’t the Half of It, blending dark overlays of reality with moments of inspiration. Blend in cameos of Mario Andretti, Hunter Thompson, the expulsion from Eden and Les Miz, and you can share the poetic confusion faced by all of us.

Why Laertes as metaphor for all these myriad strands? Laertes famously appears as father of Odysseus and as slayer of Hamlet, bridging different classic ages and standing in important relationship to iconic figures. Yet Laertes is human in each setting, and often in error. Laertes is pained in each setting, yet that pain proves unrequited. Such is the case of America, of each person struggling with self, of everyone defining a (or the) god, and in thinking about mortality. There are images and themes, but no logic that can be described. Poetry is uniquely adept at addressing such conundrums; sharp lines of thought arranged in not necessarily logical order. This is often how life comes at us in real-time.

Each Laertes would understand.