Enter your email Address

ENTROPY
  • About
    • About
    • Masthead
    • Advertising
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Info on Book Reviews
  • Essays
    • All Introspection
      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Side Effects May Include Monstrosity

      February 25, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      WOVEN: Bruises Around the Heart

      February 24, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Radio Days

      February 23, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      The Birds: The Old and the Flightless

      February 22, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Radio Days

      February 23, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Daddy Rocked the Baby, Mother Said Amen

      February 20, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: The End of the World

      February 9, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: I almost lost my calloused skin

      February 2, 2021

  • Fiction
    • Fiction

      BLACKCACKLE: Cain, Knocking

      February 24, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: A Bird Heart for Forgiveness

      February 19, 2021

      Fiction

      New Skin

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: Skittering

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      Variations on a Theme: Larger Than Life

      February 6, 2021

  • Reviews
    • All Collaborative Review Video Review
      Review

      Review: To Limn / Lying In by J’Lyn Chapman

      February 25, 2021

      Review

      Review: Nudes by Elle Nash

      February 22, 2021

      Review

      Burials Free of Sharks: Review of Xandria Phillips’ Hull

      February 18, 2021

      Review

      Review: Censorettes by Elizabeth Bales Frank

      February 4, 2021

      Collaborative Review

      Attention to the Real: A Conversation

      September 3, 2020

      Collaborative Review

      A Street Car Named Whatever

      February 22, 2016

      Collaborative Review

      Black Gum: A Conversational Review

      August 7, 2015

      Collaborative Review

      Lords of Waterdeep in Conversation

      February 25, 2015

      Video Review

      Entropy’s Super Mario Level

      September 15, 2015

      Video Review

      Flash Portraits of Link: Part 7 – In Weakness, Find Strength

      January 2, 2015

      Video Review

      Basal Ganglia by Matthew Revert

      March 31, 2014

      Video Review

      The Desert Places by Amber Sparks and Robert Kloss, Illustrated by Matt Kish

      March 21, 2014

  • Small Press
    • Small Press

      OOMPH! Press

      February 24, 2021

      Small Press

      Dynamo Verlag

      February 17, 2021

      Small Press

      Abalone Mountain Press

      February 3, 2021

      Small Press

      Gordon Hill Press

      December 8, 2020

      Small Press

      Evidence House

      November 24, 2020

  • Where to Submit
  • More
    • Poetry
    • Interviews
    • Games
      • All Board Games Video Games
        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: Lady of the West

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Paperback and Anomia

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: The Real Leeds Part 12 (Once in a Lifetime)

        November 10, 2018

        Video Games

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Video Games

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Video Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Video Games

        Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the Spirit of Generosity

        December 31, 2018

    • Food
    • Small Press Releases
    • Film
    • Music
    • Paranormal
    • Travel
    • Art
    • Graphic Novels
    • Comics
    • Current Events
    • Astrology
    • Random
  • RESOURCES
  • The Accomplices
    • THE ACCOMPLICES
    • Enclave
    • Trumpwatch

ENTROPY

  • About
    • About
    • Masthead
    • Advertising
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Info on Book Reviews
  • Essays
    • All Introspection
      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Side Effects May Include Monstrosity

      February 25, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      WOVEN: Bruises Around the Heart

      February 24, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Radio Days

      February 23, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      The Birds: The Old and the Flightless

      February 22, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Radio Days

      February 23, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Daddy Rocked the Baby, Mother Said Amen

      February 20, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: The End of the World

      February 9, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: I almost lost my calloused skin

      February 2, 2021

  • Fiction
    • Fiction

      BLACKCACKLE: Cain, Knocking

      February 24, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: A Bird Heart for Forgiveness

      February 19, 2021

      Fiction

      New Skin

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: Skittering

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      Variations on a Theme: Larger Than Life

      February 6, 2021

  • Reviews
    • All Collaborative Review Video Review
      Review

      Review: To Limn / Lying In by J’Lyn Chapman

      February 25, 2021

      Review

      Review: Nudes by Elle Nash

      February 22, 2021

      Review

      Burials Free of Sharks: Review of Xandria Phillips’ Hull

      February 18, 2021

      Review

      Review: Censorettes by Elizabeth Bales Frank

      February 4, 2021

      Collaborative Review

      Attention to the Real: A Conversation

      September 3, 2020

      Collaborative Review

      A Street Car Named Whatever

      February 22, 2016

      Collaborative Review

      Black Gum: A Conversational Review

      August 7, 2015

      Collaborative Review

      Lords of Waterdeep in Conversation

      February 25, 2015

      Video Review

      Entropy’s Super Mario Level

      September 15, 2015

      Video Review

      Flash Portraits of Link: Part 7 – In Weakness, Find Strength

      January 2, 2015

      Video Review

      Basal Ganglia by Matthew Revert

      March 31, 2014

      Video Review

      The Desert Places by Amber Sparks and Robert Kloss, Illustrated by Matt Kish

      March 21, 2014

  • Small Press
    • Small Press

      OOMPH! Press

      February 24, 2021

      Small Press

      Dynamo Verlag

      February 17, 2021

      Small Press

      Abalone Mountain Press

      February 3, 2021

      Small Press

      Gordon Hill Press

      December 8, 2020

      Small Press

      Evidence House

      November 24, 2020

  • Where to Submit
  • More
    • Poetry
    • Interviews
    • Games
      • All Board Games Video Games
        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: Lady of the West

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Paperback and Anomia

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: The Real Leeds Part 12 (Once in a Lifetime)

        November 10, 2018

        Video Games

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Video Games

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Video Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Video Games

        Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the Spirit of Generosity

        December 31, 2018

    • Food
    • Small Press Releases
    • Film
    • Music
    • Paranormal
    • Travel
    • Art
    • Graphic Novels
    • Comics
    • Current Events
    • Astrology
    • Random
  • RESOURCES
  • The Accomplices
    • THE ACCOMPLICES
    • Enclave
    • Trumpwatch
Review

Review: Shrapnel Maps by Philip Metres

written by Guest Contributor January 18, 2021

Shrapnel Maps by Philip Metres
Copper Canyon Press, April 2020
Bookshop / Amazon
94 pages – Poetry

 

When I pick up a new book, the first thing I usually do is glance at the back cover of it to have a better understanding of what I might be reading about. The back cover of Shrapnel Maps by Philip Metres has the following quote:

13. What do you want others to know?

Tell them that we exist.

That we exist,

even between the words of their text.

These words stood out to me from the get-go, and as I read through each of the poems in this beautifully and intentionally crafted book, I was able to gain a little more insight into Metres’ poetic vision and sensibility. Metres creates a space for people, particularly those in the Middle East, to come to terms with hurt, history, and perhaps a sense of hope in regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In Sandra Beasley’s essay, “Flint and Tinder – Understanding the Difference Between ‘Poetry of Witness’ and ‘Documentary Poetics'”, she states that a poem has the ability to make “present to us the experience of the other, the poem is the experience, rather than a symbolic representation…we are marked by it and become ourselves witnesses to what it has made present before us.” Metres allows for the readers of his book, Shrapnel Maps, to become witnesses to the pain that people have experienced by showcasing different voices and perspectives.

One of the many ways that he does this is through using a poetic form called “simultaneity,” where each column of the poem is read by different readers that represent different voices – the readers all read their columns at the same time, creating a gorgeous and chaotic space for people to soak in all of the viewpoints that are being presented. There are several simultaneities in Shrapnel Maps, but the one that really impacted me was “Bride of Palestine: to be read by our people simultaneously,” broken up into four stanzas, titled “Guidebook,” “Haganah Leaflet,” “Yafa/Joppa/Jaffa/Yafo,” and “Nahida,” respectively. The poem itself about Jewish paramilitary Haganah’s eviction of Palestinians from Jaffa in 1984, and the form of the poem forces the readers and listeners to think through the conflicting and contrasting perspectives that ask questions in regards to who the speaker is, who the audience is, and what the purpose of each of the poems might be.

The “Guidebook” is a touristy poem that begins with, “Welcome to Jaffa! / Welcome to the arched alleys / bathing in sun” (Column 1, pg. 106). This section addresses tourists in an upbeat tone, which is severely juxtaposed by the second column on the piece, “Haganah Leaflet.” “Haganah Leaflet” embodies the commanding tone and voice of an army that directs and orders that “all males will concentrate between / Feisal Street, Al Mukhtar / Street, Al Hulwa Street and the / Sea / the particulars of which will be / notified later” (Column 2, pg. 106). There is a sense of authority and violence in these orders, showcasing a differing perspective than “Guidebook” and from “Yafa/Joppa/Jaffa/Yafo,” which presents a heartbreaking point of view of people who had to experience the eviction. The section opens with “Bride of Palestine / City of Oranges / From sunset until dawn / they did not spare / any house from shooting / … / houses dynamited / people still in them / unknown number / drowned during the exodus by sea” (Column 3, pg. 107). The poem then gets even more personal and tells the story of Nahida, a friend of Metres’ for whom this section of Shrapnel Maps is dedicated, and recounts how Nahida and her family had to leave Jaffa. The speaker of “Nahida” states that “our bags packed, we drove / past houses in flames houses in / houses in houses in flames / without those documents I / could never prove I lived there / that this house was mine this / life was mine” (Column 4, pg. 107). Each of the sections within “Bride of Palestine” works together in order to create and show ways that many perspectives come together to present a single situation.

In an interview with Christopher Nelson, Metres states:

There are so many voices in the book—voices of victims and perpetrators, of bystanders and activists, of all manner of human being and becoming. They spoke to me, and through language (my own and found text), and helped me abide with them as I attempted to understand what I could not understand in any other way (2020).

By using forms like simultaneities, Metres brings to light the main themes of Shrapnel Maps and helps readers identify the core of his poetry and project: to highlight the slivers of human voices and the many layers that create memory. He also does this by using different forms of poetry all throughout the collection, including ghazals, couplets, postcards, images, letters, prose, and erasure. Metres combines and experiments with different forms to really emphasize the fact that differences can come together in order to present various aspects and voices of an event, and to create visual and tonal diversity in this book. With the erasure poetry that is present in this collection, Metres shows how narratives can erase stories, not necessarily even the voices of opposing sides, but also, personal memories and a sense of belonging.

For example, towards the beginning of the book, there is a poem, “Two Neighbors,” that embodies an erasure of voices and memories. The speaker talks about an experience they had near Jerusalem where a young Palestinian hopped onboard and they ended up having a conversation about how he hoped to study engineering. The poem then transitions abruptly into short and choppy sentences, saying “The minivan braked. We pulled out passports,” (6) after which the speaker states:

A / soldier barked something we couldn’t follow, the young man said something we couldn’t follow, his hands dancing empty in the air. / The soldier grabbed his wrists. We pulled away (we couldn’t follow) / and he disappeared, surrounded by three soldiers, as we drew new to Jerusalem. (6)

Even though this isn’t a traditional erasure poem, Metres uses different variations of the phrase “we couldn’t follow,” to show an aspect of erasure of language and meaning that the speaker wasn’t able to fully understand. As readers, it is evident that the Palestinian man’s sense of belonging is stripped away and his voice was erased, emphasizing narratives and their roles in preserving stories and memories.

Something else that is unique about Shrapnel Maps is Metres’ decision to include poetry in the form of pictures and postcards. The first page of Section VII of the book showcases a picture of a map with the worlds “Holy Land” across the top right hand corner, but the letters are scratched out so that it looks like “_o__ Land.” The map includes names of cities and landmarks that are scribbled out, as well as snippets of phrases and words that look as though they have been pasted onto the map. Some of these snippets include sayings such as, “A desolate country,” “Dismal, smileless,” “we never saw a human being on the whole route,” and “Sitting in sackcloth and ashes” (99) to name a few. The map itself acts as a poem that shows a landscape of loss, represented through fragmented words and and redactions. Other unconventional poems that are similar to “O Land” work together to present various aspects of how people may view Israel and Palestine, as well as remind readers that culture and geography become shrapnel through a dispersal of identity and dislocation of people caused by war.

One of the biggest accomplishments of Shrapnel Maps is that Metres encourages people to become witnesses to stories. He does this by forcing people to acknowledge various voices addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that are represented through different forms, different narratives, and different perspectives. Only by being aware of this can people truly start to move towards justice and peace, and Metres does this by exemplifying this concept through his book, Shrapnel Maps.

 


Melanie Han is an avid traveler and a poet who was born in Korea, grew up in East Africa, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing in Boston. She has won awards from Boston in 100 Words and Lyric, and her poetry has appeared in several magazines and online publications, such as Fathom Mag, Ruminate, and Among Worlds. During her free time, she can be found eating different ethnic foods, studying languages, or visiting new countries.

Review: Shrapnel Maps by Philip Metres was last modified: January 17th, 2021 by Guest Contributor
0 comment
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Avatar
Guest Contributor

Entropy posts are often submitted to us by our fantastic readers & guest contributors. We'd love to receive a contribution from you too. Submission Guidelines.

previous post
The Birds: a poem
next post
Food and Covid-19: Pivot

You may also like

Review: Convenient Amnesia by Donald Vincent

November 12, 2020

No bricks. Just mortar. John Ashbery’s Breezeway

June 23, 2015

The Untranslatable

November 20, 2015

Review: Sketchtasy by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

May 23, 2019
Facebook Twitter Instagram

Recent Comments

  • furiousvexation Loved this. Killer first line and such a painted picture. Bravo!

    The Birds: a poem ·  February 17, 2021

  • Deidra Brown Wonderful, moving work!

    The Birds: a poem ·  February 15, 2021

  • Ceres Growing up in a rural area, I've observed first-hand the disparate outlooks between urban children with environmentalist parents and children raised in the country. Modern agricultural practices...

    HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC ·  February 13, 2021

Featured Columns & Series

  • The Birds
  • Dinnerview
  • WOVEN
  • Variations on a Theme
  • BLACKCACKLE
  • Literacy Narrative
  • COVID-19
  • Mini-Syllabus
  • Their Days Are Numbered
  • On Weather
  • Disarticulations
  • The Waters
  • Session Report series
  • Birdwolf
  • Comics I've Been Geeking Out On
  • Small Press Releases
  • Books I Hate (and Also Some I Like)
  • The Poetics of Spaces
  • Tales From the End of the Bus Line
  • Fog or a Cloud
  • 30 Years of Ghibli
  • Cooking Origin Stories
  • YOU MAKE ME FEEL
  • Ludic Writing
  • Best of 2019
  • The Talking Cure
  • Food and Covid-19
  • Stars to Stories
  • DRAGONS ARE REAL OR THEY ARE DEAD
  • Foster Care
  • LEAKY CULTURE
  • Jem and the Holographic Feminisms
  • D&D with Entropy

Find Us On Facebook

Entropy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

©2014-2021 The Accomplices LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Read our updated Privacy Policy.


Back To Top