Review: Split Level Igloo by E. Amling

The short read that is Split Level Igloo appears to be is very misleading. 11 poems in 18 pages require more re-reading than you may have initially planned for. The first effort, “Are We Loving It To Death” doesn’t so much ask a question as it establishes a character. He’s a murderer who lives in the era of Sherlock Holmes with a drinking problem mating with a gothic time-jumper, with a fondness for wildlife in lands to the north. Or so I thought. It turns out to be a guy on his day off. Don’t worry, I’m not giving it away here. This poem also happens to be the longest of the bunch. Maybe Amling is creating this hurdle to challenge the reader to keep-on-keepin’-on. My favorite line is simply put but could mean so many other things: “I got up to check the scores while you were out at the club dancing.” The last part of “Death” is the author jumping in the minds of others while observing simple and humorous facts.

“Inside OK Town” invites you to the boring-if-you-let-it locations that do not seem to excite the regular passer-by. This piece contains what is probably the best way I’ve ever heard anyone express the interest of obtaining carnal knowledge. Such sentiment carries over to the getaway retreat atmosphere of “Billionths”. This piece would be what people in the music biz call a “single”, with its straight structure and seamlessly flowing images of a morning after spending the night in the wilderness. At this point I’m already asking questions whose answers (I feel) Amling should have included at this juncture.  They may be too personal and none of my business.  So I’ll just move to the abstract prospectors of “Yoke Fellow” and then follow that with “Infinity Why Not”.  This is where this collection of work gets his name, while suggesting that time travel inspired the racetracks of the jilted lovers around the world.  Or something close to it.  Or something not close at all because “Like the short coastlines in the laundromat, we are both calm and tumultuous.”

Amling likes the idea of time travel, or maybe timeless omnipotence.  Time travel gets another mention in “Today’s Smells”, which is an adventure solely for the nose.  I have to say that I prefer the smell of Gene Clark cassettes over a collection of hearing aids any day.  “Frown Caper” seems ironically titled, as I have interpreted this to have a positive result, similar to those found in “Billionths”.  Positive influences may be afoot here.  “Former Mathematician Eddie Mustard Does Community Service” is genius.  Its something that can and will be written over and over by other people who may have no idea that this has been done before.  That sounds like it could be a bit of a stretch, but that’s the beauty of the written verse and its alternative lexicon.  Something always has a chance to be reborn, to be reunderstood.  “Ambush Rainbow” keeps the idea of timeless omnipotence steady as “Hollow Ice Portrait” bookends a short and sweet collection by Eric Amling.

Here!  Have another look at the promotional film for Split Level Igloo.

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