[Newspoetry] Newpoem from Newton Bigelow

[Robert Porter]

NEWSPOETRY:

Romantic Round Robin, Headlong Heartbreak

By Newton Bigelow (Associated Poets)

Dateline Madrid---

If all of the adjectives you might think to append to the reflexively dour
Newspoets, nimble would rank somewhere near the bottom of the list, right
there next to funky and ephemeral. But all these words apply to
"Newspoetry," an experience akin to watching a wan belle-lettrist suddenly
bound to his feet and execute a lighter-than-helium pirouette. If you asked
them why they decided to display such showmanship only at this point in
their lives, they might respond, "Because you never asked us."

"Newspoetry" is droll and lovable, and has earned all of the wrinkles on its
brow and around its mouth. What's surprising is that on close examination
those crinkles turn out to be smile lines. The work is a wistful, rueful
shrug: an unforgettable gesture as sexy and controlled as Tony Bennett
chugging his way through "I Wish I Were in Love Again."

Rueful and sweet, "Newspoetry" is the closest approximation yet of a Guy de
Maupassant short story. And like de Maupassant, after the buttery sweetness
has melted away, the tanginess lingers. It's arguably a trifle, but rarely
is something like this done with such skill and, well, savoir-faire.

Inhabiting a role that a needier poet might have distorted with sentimental
pathos, Newspoetry gives a dry, understated performance that stays on an
emotionally even keel, even after it goes haywire with an unnecessarily
tricky (and unbelievable) final plot twist.

The world view of "Newspoetry" is almost as hard as the product the poets
hawk. Uninsurable employees are ruthlessly dropped. Recreational sex is only
for the young. And if you don't cover your stash, thieves will snatch it.
That's the way of a world where getting and spending are what it's all
about.