Prelude to the Bacchanal

Hugh Oliver is Editor-in-chief of OISE Press, Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education.

In many of this book’s poems, Lemm draws on his childhood, boyhood,
and youth in Seattle. Essentially, the poems are character descriptions
of relatives and acquaintances, ruminations on significant events (such
as Bundy’s execution), and descriptions of his reactions to
experiences.

I feel insecure judging contemporary poetry: I fear I may be reading
the next W.H. Auden and failing to recognize him or her. Lemm, I am
pretty sure, is not the next W.H. Auden. He strikes me as a congenial
man and a competent and articulate poet, but his language and imagery
offer nothing particularly original, and his insight into the human
condition conveys nothing especially profound.