Loyalty to the Hunt

Brian Burch is a teacher, writer and poet and author of Still Under the
Thumb.

At the turn of the century prose poetry evolved into an effective way to present strong and vividimages of love and nature. As a style of poetry itoften falls short of its potential. Dorina Michelutti’s Loyalty to the Hunt shows a real mastery of the form.

Michelutti draws upon her own life and dreams, the experiences gained as a child and a woman living both in Italy and in Canada, as the source for the rich passages she presents for her readers. We are provided with glimpses into what it is like to come to terms with developing sexuality under the shadow of the Blessed Virgin Mary and learn to empathize strongly with the erosion of the freedom of flight both of Icarus and of a common bee.

Loyalty to the Hunt reads like a collection of short, surreal stories. It is divided into four independent “stories” — “About Flight,” “Loyalty to the Hunt,” “Double Bind,” and “Letters”— which are in turn divided into short, interwoven passages on common themes. Because of Michelutti’s skill, this results not in confusing, overpowering and conflicting images, but in one strong sense of gentle strength, a certainty that we are in the presence of a person confident in herself.

One thing disturbed me about this collection. As “Double Bind” consists of the same poems presented both in English and Italian, an inability to understand Italian and properly to appreciate the poems in both languages is frustrating.