Shaler's Fish

Despite the title, there is no specific mention of Shaler’s fish – which was a real fish – following the introductory quote. The sentiment, however, runs through these poems. That is, studying the subject at hand, be it a fish in a pan or a book on a stand. Agassiz’s lesson is carried out here, in full explorations of natural science and everyday life itself.

“Shaler’s Fish” is halved, first “SAFETY CATCH,” complemented and completed by “SHALER’S FISH.” Even if you know how to read poetry, this collection, under 100 pages, merits repeated visits. Macdonald uses scientific terms in artistic ways. If you read “H is for Hawk” and were hoping for more of her bird observations, you will be pleased. Those are some of the images that stuck out for me. 

I wish, when poetry is taught in class, we’d learn more about poetry without specific form(s), let alone rhyming. Poetry, the way I see it, can be anything, and so without such limits, poets are free to express exactly what they need to. That’s good. One technique that did stand out is that almost no words, save a few proper nouns, are capitalized. punctuation is not strictly enforced

Partly due to my scant literacy regarding poetry, I did not know what was going on at first reading. This is no fault of the writer’s: Helen Macdonald is a master wordsmith, and I have to do my work to get to that point. Reading through the lines twice or more led to “I got it!” moments. This is heavy – in a good way. I have to get my literary chops up to snuff. The reward will be a richer experience.