Who am I supposed to be driving?
- 26 pages
- 1 hour of reading
"Perhaps we were all tall children then, playing games on asphalt under alien stars, the heat boiling up through the cracks." Named after a line from an outtake of David Bowie's 1996 album, this collection of ekphrastic poems responds to thirteen of his albums, from 1969's Space Oddity to 2016's Blackstar. Bowie, the ultimate changeling, crafted songs that transported us to diverse and exotic landscapes. These poems are not critiques or biographies; they explore the emotions evoked by Bowie's work and the lost worlds from which these iconic albums emerged. They may also reflect the thoughts of a night-shift flight controller longing for Major Tom's return. Clare O'Brien captures Bowie's essence with concise words and deft phrasing, conjuring sound and vision from Major Tom to Blackstar. Her poetry evokes nostalgia and melancholy while being visceral and uplifting. Deep emotions rise like "the heat boiling up through the cracks," inviting readers to delve deeper into the sometimes cryptic lines. Poems like Portrait in Flesh and Your Face in Mine feel ethereal, while Spark the Fusion is sharp and sensory. Reading this collection feels voyeuristic, as if intruding on O'Brien's secrets, yet this curiosity is part of her gift with language. The collection serves as a starkly beautiful tribute to Bowie's music, inviting exploration of both the artist's journey and the emotional responses it inspires, reminding us of music's power