Barbara Henning's Digigram

Reviewed by Carla Scarano D'Antonio

(United Artists Books, 2020)

​Barbara Henning’s experimental new collection takes inspiration from Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, the Dada Baroness, who combined poetry with art, and from her own journals and poetic materials. Henning describes her everyday life in sketches and snapshots from the end of February 2016 until the end of April 2018. This spans a significant part of the period when Trump started his electoral campaign for the American presidency, his victory and the aftermath. In an afterword note, Henning names the poems, or prose poems, ‘ecliptic digital messages’ or ‘digigrams’. They are telegrams of sorts in which the phrases or lines are punctuated by em dashes in a fragmented continuum that focuses on the information between the dashes. In the poems, the em dash creates a break depicting the impressions of the day and, at the same time, connects the weather, the places the poet visits, the political situation, and occasional encounters and ordinariness, as in ‘Flip It’:

—gusts of wind and pigeon feathers —blowing east and north —biking west and south —to the drug store on 2nd Ave —run into Elinor —a facebook group —downtown women fighting the bully —flip it in 2018 —coughing on 1st Ave —pull over —adjust to less oxygen —adjust to unprecedented assault —on what is and is not —passing through the park —nearly every president —has a learning to curve —but this one is exceptional —yes, sir —Mexico is our next door neighbor —follow the curves around the benches —the large oak and elm trees —like skeletons passing through —like coming home —just glide in, around and out the side gate —overhead a squirrel’s nest —with an outer skeleton of twigs —see someone I used to know —wave —zoom by —on 7th Street in front of my building —take off helmet, glasses and lock up bike —open the door for a neighbor —carrying a big bag —I like your haircut, she says —Philip Glass is happy —when someone says— It doesn’t sound like you —                                                                                                                                                 27 Jan 2017
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The sociopolitical context of Trump’s and Clinton’s run for the presidency is crucial in this collection and unfolds in the social crisis reflected in the symbolic cold weather that is present in some poems as well as in the fragmented quality of the verses. Henning describes a complex society, a variegated reality that is difficult to decipher and which mirrors what she is experiencing. She is sincere and assertive in her writing and is committed to witnessing what is happening around her. Her poetry is a collage of impressions which convey powerful visions of a quasi-surreal consequence in reality of the ambiguous and deceptive political situation. This vision is also connected to environmental concerns, immigration issues and her own health condition. In an interview with Ryan Nowlin for Boog City, she claims that ‘[t]he build-up of the cumulative short phrases in Digigram is probably a merging of my personal tendency toward speed, the panic of the time and my own shortness of breath’, which confirms the interweaving of her own life, the social situation and her writing strategies. Henning cycles around without a definite target, observing and commenting and shifting from everyday life to big matters, as in ‘We Can, We Can’:

—truth and lies viral —rampant hatred —an American man dumps —boiling water —on two sleeping men —a curfew to quell rioting —after a police shooting —if only —as simple as —a belief —in ancestors —in Madagascar —wearing red —at the waterfront —may incite —an ancestor’s wrath —naked under a sheet at 1 a.m. —in the U.P. —the night so quiet —the trees still —a slight ringing —in the mind —we can squash Mr. Bully —we can we can —dear mother —dear grandmother —please —send qi —outside a high pitched ringing —between the rising wind —and a chorus of crickets —all other animals —in this house —are sound asleep —                                                                                                   1 Aug 2016

America is divided ‘between protestors and supporters’. The ‘bully’ has ‘tiny hands —and a tiny brain —like the tyrannosaurs’; he develops ‘an ability to lie and deny’ (‘Come Here’). Trump still won the election, in spite of his politics against immigrants, his disregarding of the Constitution and his claim that he would build a wall, symbolising a voluntary isolation from the rest of the world. Politics creep into Henning’s everyday life, where America implodes in Trump’s slogan ‘America first’, an apparent show of strength that actually reveals fear, a sense of vulnerability and a politics of endless confrontation. Instead, Henning’s poems emphasise the importance of connections, the resourcefulness of communities, that is, relationships, even if they are temporary, compassion and inclusiveness. They merge with the space, the American landscape of New York City, the memories of her birthplace, Detroit, and shift according to the changes in the weather, revealing a varied reality which is rich and compelling.
 
In the last prose poem, dated 24 April 2018, Covid-19 is still to come and Trump will be the American president for another year and a half, but Henning waits ‘for the wild power of nature --Om Nama Shivaya —anything— could happen—to turn around’. It is a cold winter but ‘slowly and surely— the temperature will rise’ (‘We Wait’). It is a prayer for a better situation and a more hopeful future; if Henning remains open to diverse routes and unpredictable turns, she can ride again and be attentive and engaged.

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Carla Scarano D’Antonio lives in Surrey with her family. She obtained her Degree of Master of Arts in Creative Writing with Merit at Lancaster University in October 2012. Her pamphlet Negotiating Caponata was recently published by Dempsey & Windle (2020); she has also self-published a poetry pamphlet, A Winding Road (2011). She has published her work in various anthologies and magazines, and is currently working on a PhD on Margaret Atwood’s work at the University of Reading. In 2016, she and Keith Lander won first prize in the Dryden Translation Competition with translations of Eugenio Montale’s poems. She writes in English as a second language.
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Visit her websites:
http://carlascarano.blogspot.com/
http://www.carlascaranod.co.uk/