Books Noted
Sandra Doller, Chora

Ahsahta Press, 2010

Sandra Doller's second book is aptly named; the poems resemble a musical score&emdash;spare in places, full in others, each melodic line carefully considered. Another line that is ever present and carefully considered throughout the book is that of the long train route during which this collection was composed. The "track" (double entendre certainly intended) provides a constant rhythm for scenes that materialize on the field of vision, ever changing but seamless from one to the next. The poems' speaker also examines her own loneliness and sense of belonging. From "Severed Line":

wall sounds blows cool


+ i cannot work where i shouldn’t be
alley candle clings

miles

ninety + miss a little/the frost


miss the margins the season rakes