MAYBE TODAY

A debut volume of poetry takes a comic view of contemporary life with a sometimes-serious edge.

In his collection, which features some poems that were previously published in literary journals, Dickson often skewers the jargon-y language of advertising, apps, and marketing. “Dear Citibank,” for example, is a sardonic prose-poem note of thanks for the company’s many so-called “Last Chance!” credit-card offers: “Five last chances! If only we all had such patience in our human intercourse. / But wait, there’s more! / When my sixth last chance arrived this morning, I could hardly contain myself. Is there no limit to your indulgence?” The speaker’s hyperbolically polite appreciation hilariously exposes the bank’s naked attempts at manipulation. In other pieces, the poet also displays a keen ear for the rhythms of speech. Dickson’s humorous but real exasperation with himself is plain in “Yet Another If-I-Had-Life-To-Do-All-Over-Again Poem”: “Speaking of which, this time I will not let Lucinda Gluck go, / just because I thought her ultimatum was ‘too soon.’ / Too soon for what, Barry? Too soon to be loved? / … / Clearly it wasn’t too soon to be an asshole.” The piece ends with a soberer yet not didactic reflection on taking risks. Not all the verses are comic. The title poem, for example, considers hate crimes: “Maybe today will be the day / no one is dragged behind a truck / because he’s black / or kicked to death because he’s gay.” Perhaps expecting things to be different is a form of insanity, asserts the poet, but “Maybe it / defines optimism.” Maybe it does, but is hope an especially fruitful response to tragedy? The poem could grapple more deeply with the darkness of its subject instead of rushing toward a think-positive conclusion.

At their best, these poems offer engagingly sardonic and witty observations