REVIEW Ohio professor offers thoughtful prose on the writing of poetry

The author compares writing poetry to cooking and carpentry.
By THERESA M. HEGEL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
"Paperwork," by David Citino (The Kent State University Press, $24)
Few like the mundane tedium of paperwork, but that's no reason to be leery of poet David Citino's "Paperwork."
The book is a collection of his previously published essays, an articulate and interesting meditation on writing, more specifically the writing of poetry. Citino attempts to define what it is to be a poet and to define poetry itself.
To do so, he -- ever the poet -- resorts to metaphor and uses language steeped in nutritional intellectualism and hearty imagery. He compares writing poetry to cooking and carpentry and also likens a well-crafted poem to a well-played baseball game.
Many of his essays end with one of his poems. The essay that compares poetry to cooking ends in a poem called "The Poem of Chicken Breast with Fettucine." His essay about baseball concludes with a short poem shaped like a baseball diamond.
Citino is University Poet Laureate for The Ohio State University, where he also teaches English and creative writing, and many of his essays deal with his status as an Ohio poet. He discusses his childhood in Cleveland, his college days at Ohio University and his graduate work and teaching career at Ohio State.
How to write an Ohio poem
One essay contains instructions on writing an Ohio poem. Citino says that "writers have learned from realtors that what matters most is Location, Location, Location" and that "poets are uniquely qualified to portray a sense of their place." He says that "an Ohio poem, carefully conceived, can be like a poem from no other where." Such poems reveal that their authors have lived or spent time in the state.
In another essay, called "My State of the State Address," Citino pays homage to his home state, praising the richness and beauty of its countryside and the ethnic and cultural diversity of its cities.
Divided into four sections, "Paperwork" is full of essays that overlap in theme. Indeed, some of the phrases and ideas Citino employs from piece to piece are the same. Imagery from earlier essays is echoed in later essays. Citino seems compelled to explore questions from multiple angles, but the conclusions he draws, though often providing new insights, are never very different from conclusions he's drawn before.
Still, this does not make for boring, repetitive reading; rather, it creates a flow of text, allowing one to navigate easily between essays.
Alternately witty and tragic, Citino combines, in lyrical prose, poetic vision with a scholar's knowledge. "Paperwork" is a significant collection and a good resource for aspiring poets and writers.
hegel@vindy.com