Modern and Normal

An etymological definition of the verb dwell prefaces Karen Solie’s second collection of poetry, Modern and Normal (Brick Books). This definition, “to lead astray, deceive; to hinder; to wander; to tarry,” sets the tone for a series of poems in perpetual motion. There is little to suggest stability or fidelity in Solie’s poems; instead there is energy and forward momentum—modern, yes, but hardly “normal.”