The Pearl Inside the Body: Poems Selected and New

Bert Almon is a professor of English at the University of Alberta and
author of Calling Texas.

It is startling to read a collection of poems that imitate those of
another writer. Cooper is drenched—even steeped—in the work of the
American poet Robert Bly, a kind of contemporary analogue of Bliss
Carman whose widespread influence on poets has faded as his reputation
as a guru of the men’s movement has grown. Other poets have been
influenced by Bly, but Cooper has carried it very far: his themes,
diction, imagery, tone, line divisions, punctuation, and even titles
(e.g., the title of this book) are imitations of Bly. The clichés of
this kind of writing were described some years ago in Paul Breslin’s
essay, “How to Write the New Contemporary Poem.” Cooper simply has
no poetic identity at all. He has skill with words, certainly, and for
the sake of his work should try to find a voice of his own. Solemn
parodies will not endure.