GLBT-RT

Beam, Jeffery. The Beautiful Tendons: Uncollected Queer Poems, 1969-2007. Brooklyn, NY: White Crane Books, 2008. 131p. Paperback. ISBN: 9781590210406. $14.95

This collection of poems, unpublished in book form until now, covers roughly a thirty year period, and is an excellent opportunity for readers who may not be familiar with Jeffery Beam’s poetry to become acquainted with his style.

The back cover of the book sums up this reader’s experience of the poems as “lyrical, metaphysical poetry,” a conversation between our physical world and our spiritual being. While Beam’s male lovers serve, in large part, as the subject matter for his poems, their erotic passion and the sense of solitude that comes from the loss of a lover are universal emotions to which all readers can relate.

A man of many creative talents, Jeffery Beam’s publications include nine books, numerous articles, three audio publications, and one lyrical opera. He has also served as the poetry editor of Oyster Boy Review. Beam is a library assistant to the Biology Librarian in the Botany Library on the North Carolina University–Chapel Hill campus.

While The Beautiful Tendons does contain images that some patrons might find offensive or inappropriate, it is recommended for libraries that have a GLBT or modern poetry collection.

Reviewed by TJ Lusher
Assistant Dean
Automated Library Systems
Northern Illinois University