In Memoriam Penelope Allen

When I first drafted this post, I had no idea that she had died. I just happened to have been scrolling through Facebook in the past week, and learned that dear “Pen” had passed over the rainbow. But in her honor, here’s the review of Penelope Allen's slim 2010 volume, Zodiac Zoo, a beautiful book, lavishly illustrated.

I first encountered Penelope's work in 2006 when I was compiling my anthology Fire Elegies: 59 Poets on Endangered Species of North America. We bonded, and have remained steadfast poetic admirers ever since.

The remarkable feature of her Zodia book is that—all 12 poems are villannelles! No mean feat! I've only written a handful of of villanelles—a complicated poetic form that challenges even the most accomplished poets. Penelope was among them.

My favorite is " In the Dark Dragon," which addresses my Zodiacal sign.  Here she advises us Dragons to "shrug off the qualms of contrite."

There's some humor in these pages, too, especially in "Soapbox for the Ox," wirh its "unhamishhocks."

"Rag on Rat" delivers the animals’ "sewer snarls,"with "a Cagney spat." Meanwhile, "Rooster Booster" snags us with "wattle wobbles."

What a treat to read a poetry collection that us downright fun! Please join me in mourning Pen in her afterlife by reading the book. It will make you smile through the grief.