Review of Christien Gholson’s The No One Poems
May 26, 2021
The No One Poems
Thirty West Publishing
$11.99
You can purchase a copy here. A limited edition with alternate cover, sewn with 100% hemp or bamboo cord, is also available.
Reviewed by Chris Kaiser
The No One Poems, the newest chapbook from Christien Gholson, is at times an homage to the four greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty (618-907): Han Shan, Li Bai, Wang Wei and Du Fu. These poets are known for their focus on nature and friendship, but also politics, everyday events and humor. Gholson follows their example, with the poems exuding a kind of bleak enlightenment.
In the opening poem, “No One’s at the Cash Register” (After Han Shan), a poem in 10 sections, we find the titular character working the cash register at a convenience store. In his first line, he boldly states: “If you’re looking for a / peaceful place, this is not it.” He then ticks off a litany of indignities he is subject to on a daily basis from his boss and the customers, including:
They say: smile more,
you’re scaring the customers.
They say: smile less,
you’re scaring the customers.
Han Shan was also known as Cold Mountain, a place where he supposedly lived (historians are not entirely certain he actually existed) and wrote about. In the poem, No One says:
No
use for words on Cold Mountain.
So, why come down? The moon
asked me to pick up some
bananas for her. And cash. I
needed the cash.
I laugh every time I read those lines.
No One came down from the mountain 20 years ago and has worked at the store ever since, which I guess goes to show you, stay in your comfort zone.
Gholson has many beautiful images and lines in this collection of 13 poems. In the second poem, “Shadows, Wandering” (After Li Bai), for example, the narrator hears news of a death. He wonders when the last time he had talked with the deceased was. Ghosts of the unknown haunt every nook and cranny. He says: “Everything, absolutely everything tonight, is porous. / My fingers touch the cold, the reflected light, other shadows.”
Even when the poet writes about shootings, he does so in a way that is stark as well as gentle. In “Seven Songs Sung at Reservoir No. 4” (After Du Fu), a poem in seven sections, the narrator notes: “One dead, two dead, a dragonfly’s / wing-song leads me to my first song sung here.” But his anger also comes out when he says: “Fuck your Prayers is my third song sung, to drown out the dead who feed on the dead…”
No One also comments on the doublespeak of politicians whose endless words “tumble out of [their] mouths. Insects / sucked dry” (“No One Watches the Men Talk Behind Podiums”). For his sanity, No One has to leave the press conference, and “watches the hummingbird / moths in the lavender.” This only soothes him momentarily, for “When the moths speed / off” he “feels the dead words stir the air… / the dead words stir and stir…”
Gholson is the author of two poetry books, several chapbooks, and a novel. It is obvious that an experienced hand wrote The No One Poems. He dances between heaven and Earth, goes deep inside the flesh, reminisces about the amorphous past and contemplates the undefined future.
In the last poem, titled “No One,” the narrator tells us, “Becoming No One is not a choice.” I think Gholson wants us to believe that it happens when you let go of limiting beliefs:
When did he finally let go
of being someone else’s no one
and choose to be his own?
I highly recommend “letting go” and including this chapbook in your poetry collection. You will gain a sense of righteous rage and quiet awe—two of my favorite states of mind.
Chris Kaiser’s poetry has been published in four anthologies by Moonstone Press, including a tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti (2021), as well as in Eastern Iowa Review, The Scriblerus, and Better Than Starbucks, including “Black Bamboo: Better Than Starbucks Haiku Anthology 2020.” His poetry has also appeared in Action Moves People United, a music and spoken word project partnered with the United Nations. He’s won awards for journalism and erotic writing, holds an MA in theatre, and lives in suburban Philadelphia.