In ancient Greek mythology, Clio is the muse of history. Historians would pray to her for divine inspiration and guidance. A famous quote attributed to the philosopher Santayana is “Those who cannot remember the past are due to repeat it.” This chapbook of poems invoking Clio’s knowledge assures that the past will not be forgotten. Colby does a marvelous job in interweaving history with contemporary culture in her Clio poems. The poems present a series of vignettes, similar to a PBS documentary.
Wigs designed for Cleopatra, the senatorial
Togas, shape-shifter how you wore
Ambiguity as a bracelet. Cod piece or waist
Cincher. The ruffled collar of the good queen,
Cloak of the vampire.
(Cleo’s Closet)
“Clio in the Audience” brings together historical and cultural events unlikely to be united. Who else but Colby could take a reader from the Globe theatre to Woodstock in one stanza?
At the Globe, she
Laughs at Falstaff, at La Scala
Awash with arias, she weeps
Or claps her hands as Lippizans
Perform the airs above the ground.
Clio at Woodstock bares her
Muddy breasts,
One of my favorites starts with these lines:
Ah Clio, covered with scars.
The proud flesh of demarcations
Where borders were carved
And the second stanza:
Surely, some of these operations
Were merely superficial. Facelifts
To restore the bones of old cathedrals,
Rediscover the hidden tombs
Where pharaohs snug as appendixes
Lay among the inferior vessels.
(Clio Prepares for Surgery)
The “bones of old cathedrals”-what a line-doesn’t that immediately bring to mind every tour you’ve ever taken of a cathedral? Colby fans rely on her lush imagery and unique comparisons, and they won’t be disappointed.
Nina Bennett
Wigs designed for Cleopatra, the senatorial
Togas, shape-shifter how you wore
Ambiguity as a bracelet. Cod piece or waist
Cincher. The ruffled collar of the good queen,
Cloak of the vampire.
(Cleo’s Closet)
“Clio in the Audience” brings together historical and cultural events unlikely to be united. Who else but Colby could take a reader from the Globe theatre to Woodstock in one stanza?
At the Globe, she
Laughs at Falstaff, at La Scala
Awash with arias, she weeps
Or claps her hands as Lippizans
Perform the airs above the ground.
Clio at Woodstock bares her
Muddy breasts,
One of my favorites starts with these lines:
Ah Clio, covered with scars.
The proud flesh of demarcations
Where borders were carved
And the second stanza:
Surely, some of these operations
Were merely superficial. Facelifts
To restore the bones of old cathedrals,
Rediscover the hidden tombs
Where pharaohs snug as appendixes
Lay among the inferior vessels.
(Clio Prepares for Surgery)
The “bones of old cathedrals”-what a line-doesn’t that immediately bring to mind every tour you’ve ever taken of a cathedral? Colby fans rely on her lush imagery and unique comparisons, and they won’t be disappointed.
Nina Bennett
