Poetry has always liked escapism. Names like Wordsworth, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Coleridge - they all followed the old Bond adage 'the world is not enough' in one way or another. Recently though, poetry has been trying to escape much more than just the world. The poets of today find themselves cornered, because, after all, what is the use of poetry nowadays? A re-invention of poetry, therefore, seems, if not necessary, mandatory. This forced creative impulse sends a lot of poets down strange paths though. To me, good poetry is, first of all, readable. Understandable. I can respect TS Eliot's great works full of references, but do I find them aesthetically pleasing? Not quite so.
But let's stay on topic (not that I have been on topic once so far, but hey, the Dude abides). 'Love Poems', unsurprisingly a collection of romantic poetry, is a well written little booklet. It has some good poems in it. Others, I frankly don't care for at all. I do believe the poems are best read out loud. I was, however, a bit disappointed. The few bits of ingenuity that are present show that this could have been so much more. The simpeler poems are the better ones; Duffy likes her somewhat mysterious imagery however. Not really necessary in my opinion. Then again, it's poetry - what do I know.