Robb Jackson’s latest book is a collection of occasional poems. Each poem was written for his four children on their birthdays. As the title of the collection suggests, these poems begin after the end of the marriage from which the children were born. They are poems written in exile, full of disappointment and longing. As the years and poems pile up, the poems and the relationships with the children mature. Each child eventually comes to live with their father to attend the university at which he teaches. The collection is impressive in the way it reaches an emotional critical mass, a heft gained through persistent effort; but this is not to say that each poem is not worthy of individual attention. Jackson is a poet who toes the line of sentimentality, but he doesn’t cross it.
In my favorite poem of the collection, “Eight Journal Sketches — Taking Leah Home,” Jackson displays his considerable skill as a poet. Here he brings his nearly adult daughter to his own childhood home to visit his aged parents. In this poem the passing of time, the interplay of the generations, are handled deftly. In part five of the poem, the image of his ancient father smiling at the tombstone of his grandfather for a picture taken by Jackson’s daughter foretells the poem’s powerful ending. In the poem’s final part, “Leaving Again,” Jackson paints an eloquent scene. “Our eyes meeting in a last look / spark unspoken a recognition / that this may well be the last time / we will all see each other alive. / We look away, moving swiftly to fumble with luggage / & locks & doors to check the tears. / It’s still dark & raining hard as we pull away.” For its look into the psychology of the estranged but caring father, for the artful craft of a fine poet, Child Support is well worth the read.
Alan Berecka, Corpus Christi, Texas
Robb Jackson, Child Support. Corpus Christi, 2010. ISBN 978-1-45373-209-0.