It Only Hurts When I Smile (review)

make more noise than the old ones, about people who don't appreciate what they have or realize how lucky they are, about Jehovah's Witnesses and Republicans , about taxes. These poems reveal a reverence for what life can teach a person; they inspire a feeling that the Haskells of this world should not be forgotten. The poet passes on old man's wisdom most directly in "Grand-Dad to Grandson": "larn from anyone who'll show / ya: engineers, witches an' winos / who wax wisest when most drunk": "treat women like Fords / you know better 'n to trade in, / spite rust an' transmission flaws"; and "cuss . . . strippers an' / all them that foul land and crick." Within the context of this book, such folksy adages remind us that the simple truths our ancestors lived by were great truths. These poems are always accessible despite the dialect, always funny, poignant, and honest. They are honest because Haskell is honest and never tries to hide or justify his feelings; his openness even about his fears and prejudices lets you understand him. When he speaks, commonplace expressions regain their original feeling and meaning, as in "Sanctuary ," in which he describes what he likes about going to church. He especially likes it when "Rev'rend/ Saunders takes m' burry oV I hands in his 'un, soft as a / baby's rump an' whispers, /I'm glad you came, Haskell.'" Because the preacher's simple statement means so much to Haskell in his loneliness-so much that Haskell repeats it to us-it recovers its sincerity and power. Since all the poems are monologues by or dialogues with Haskell, the book has a coherence that makes it seem like one poem. Once you start reading-even if you've never been in Appalachia-you will feel that you are one of Haskell's family sitting beside a coal stove on a winter night, "singin our song, tellin our tale." Pull up a chair and warm yourself with these poems. -David Garrison Stull, Denver. It Only Hurts When I Smile. Published by Modern Images Poets Committee. Order from the author : PO Box 1384, Forest Park, GA 30051. 52 pages. $5.95. Georgian writer Denver Stull's latest chapbook, It Only Hurts When I Smile, is a collection of alternating essays and poems, with illustrations by Bob Ahrens. Especially older readers (over 30) or those with rural backgrounds will relate to Stull's reminiscences about an enjoyable West Virginia boyhood as well as his often frustrating, amusing struggles with life in the '80s. The book divides neatly into three themes: life's "little" inconveniences, problems of aging, and nostalgic remembrances of youth and simpler times. Life's inconveniences are humorously highlighted mostly through essays. Subjects receiving the brunt of Stall's satirical sword include "have a nice day" inane smiling while the customer is being bilked; typewriters and plumbing that can't be fixed without the intervention of a handy wife; weird hospital experiences; line-standing and computers . From the title essay, which leads off the book, comes the following wellpaced sentence: "This guy fills my mouth with cotton, numbs my entire head with Novocain, shatters my nerves with the whining of his drill, his assistant drowns me with her 'water pistol,' he temporarily drives me into bankruptcy, and tells me to 'have a nice day.'" Similarly , Stull lampoons hospitals where one goes for anything but rest, a place where "a person could very well end up in the delivery room ... or the morgue. Telephones and computers also become targets of the author s wit. Many of the poems and essays concern Eroblems in aging, which the author nows from firsthand experience. However, Stull's 69 years have taught him that a sense of humor can get one through most anything. For instance, in "What's In a Name," the author not only 65 fails to recall the name of an acquaintance encountered on the street but laments that if he'd tried to introduce the man, he'd probably have forgotten his wife's name, too. I've saved the best to mention last: the Eieces dealing with Stull's West Virginia oyhood recollections, most of "characters...