by Shanna Compton
Bloof Books 2007
Reviewed by Melinda Wilson

For Girls (We Do Have Some Idea)

If you’ve seen the television series LOST, then “others” is a term that is shrouded in mystery, contempt and intrigue. It is easy to resent the others for their exclusive little island society, that sense of true belonging and ownership that is difficult to achieve in the “real” world; however, all television associations aside, “others” is a term that is most easily defined as different or separate from the masses. Shanna Compton’s latest title, then, initially gives the reader a distinct sense that “girls” are indeed a peculiar creature, a creature very unlike, even unequal to, the “others.”

The preface to For Girls & Others reads like a disclaimer: “THE author of this book lays no claim to originality of subject-matter. She has nothing new to say.” It’s true; much of what the poems distill is predictable given the title. The publisher permits some insight into her process, describing it as a “tour through works of advice for young women, including antique etiquette manuals, 19^th-century sermons, pseudo-scientific physiology textbooks, newspaper clippings, and the internet.” One must begin reading this book with the understanding that there is nothing left to be uncovered; once this is digested, the book is gratifying. Some of the “familiarity” means a sacrifice of some of the cosmic spunkiness that made her 2005 debut Down Spooky so charming and re-readable, but some will certainly prefer the feminine thrust and cut-and-paste sampling of this gutsy second book.

The narrator’s self-awareness throughout the poems is refreshing, so much so that when the opening poem, “Opening Address,” begins, “We shall now begin / the study of girls,” the somewhat unnatural voice is not a deterrent. However, one of the truly disappointing poems in the collection is “The Wise Girl Will Prepare Herself as Well as She Can to Be Happy.” Here is the entire poem:

You are a bird
inside this cage
                                 Sing
Throw your body
into the air

The bird in a cage is such a cliché that no matter where it was found or what source it was taken from, it is unworthy of this collection.

Despite the poems “not revealing anything new,” they do chronicle some important changes in the history of femininity. At one point, a girl’s “biological clock” played a leading role in the young woman’s life. Major decisions were made by her body on her behalf. Compton writes:

a girlhood is an extreme gift
of boobies & hips
of blossom lips &
the good sense
not to use any of them.

The last two lines here suggest that the process has evolved; we now have a cultural timeline, or perhaps it’s even looser than that, maybe a timeline that can’t be called a timeline at all.

Inevitably, some things are the same. For instance, particularly throughout adolescence, girls have a certain indefinable disdain for one another that is evident in their catty and competitive behavior. This competitive nature translates to other areas of life as well, and as Compton indicates, everything is to be met with reservations when you’re a girl: “the world is like a girl / who rivals you in grace / & good looks.”

Some of the advice these poems communicate is relevant for “others” as well as girls. In “The Head Needs Rather to Be Kept Cool,” the narrator proposes that it is healthy to isolate oneself for the time of an hour and during this time to remain silent. This is good advice for anyone. Removing oneself from the company of others allows one to become an individual; spending time alone achieves a sense of balance that is difficult to strike when in a crowd of peers.

“The Fitness of the Soul” is another poem that has a lesson for everyone. The title grows on the reader. Someone once told me that large ideas in titles, for instance, the word “soul,” makes the poem come off as dramatic and overwrought. This title is an exception to that often true statement. Perhaps it is the word “fitness” that adds a necessary physical element to the intangible soul. The physical element eternally links the soul with the body, gives ownership of the soul back to the human.

Because the book takes so much from other older sources, it is tempting for the reader to form new connections with the material. This is notably appetizing in “Our Mission to the Race.” The first lines of the poem in conjunction with the title make ample interpretations available: “When you’re a girl / the moon belongs…” The race to the moon immediately comes to mind, and because women have an intrinsic connection to the moon, it can be said that women made it to the moon first, women were first to experience its elements. Traditionally, it is said that a woman’s menstrual cycle is regulated by the cycle of the moon and that ovulation takes place during the full moon. Of course, none of this is indicated in the poem, though it can be drawn out of the poem through the power of association.

What’s most interesting and enlightening in this collection are the endless possibilities for association. These possibilities, therefore, negate the assertion made at the start of the review that no new material can be found here. Incorrect. There is a multitude of new information to be “found” in this collection. It is dependent upon the reader’s ability to listen to these poems rather than to read them. Ultimately, the reader understands that Compton made the right choice in putting together these ideas in the manner that she did rather than keeping them in tact and challenging them. The forthright opposition would have come across as purely obnoxious “girl power.”

Finally, the book makes me question my own role as a woman. Many of Compton’s poems are satiric in nature. One that stands out is “Dear Bread & Butter,”. This poem imitates a “thank you” letter that a woman might send out after a social gathering. I am often a “bad” woman in the sense that I don’t fulfill these social obligations as a “proper” woman might. I have friends that are wives and soon-to-be wives who are always sure to send out Christmas cards; they make the sangria the night before a barbecue. They are always presentable and prepared. They are wonderful hostesses, and I love being their company, but they are reminders of how difficult it is to remember to buy the stamps to mail the Christmas cards, to learn to make sangria, to remember all the birthdays.

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