3 Review(s)

Cante de Gitanas con Nombres de Luz / Songs of the Gypsies with Names of Light is a collection of Karlanna Lewis' poems inspired by flamenco cante of Andalucia. Each is accompanied by her original surrealist ink drawings. In the style of flamenco singers, Lewis treats traditional themes with an individualistic edge. In "Fable in the Castilian Dialect" she writes "tell me the fable of a good/time, of the fan of a dotted skirt and what/we wore after, of the dancer's hips and how/they determined the rest of our lives" (l. 2-5). Lewis' bizarre & unique poetry embodies sadness & love. With titles ranging from "Jeraldo with the Dinosaur Wings" to "Spanish Dancer at Rest" to "Questions for a Merman" Lewis' poetry is never predictable. She has an odd obsession with bicycles & miniature people, & a special attention to detail in the art. Light & beauty & grief & longing are interwoven in Lewis' poems, their rhythm drawing the reader near as the crowd at an intimate flamenco tableau.