Supernatural Love: Poems 1976-1992 is a collection of poems, or rather a collection of three previous books: Portraits and Elegies, The Lamplit Answer, and A Gilded Lapse of Time.
 

If you already like Gjertrud but don’t own any of her books, this is probably a good place for you to start. I had been to see her when she gave a reading here earlier this year and wasn’t particularly impressed, but (big but) I tend to not respond well to readings in general, and often need to have something in front of me. Two other students I know in the Creative Writing program sang her praises and recommended the book, so I decided I’d go ahead and give it a shot.
 

My initial impression holds. It’s fair enough to say I’m in no place to malign her, and I’m not, really. This just isn’t what I read poetry for. Her grandiose, historical narratives will probably get you off if that’s the sort of thing you’re looking for, but those pieces feel lifeless to me, and leave me thinking everything, author included, is being taken far too seriously. All but one of the poems that I picked out as having liked are from the second book, The Lamplit Answer; if you feel you should still check out Gjertrud’s poetry, I would recommend starting THERE (and, perhaps, stopping there.) One of these poems, Sonata, is, in my opinion, a brilliant poem. It’s cheeky, has charm, attitude, wit and enough passion to engage the reader and make us forget we’re reading poetry in form.
 

To clarify, if I was just reviewing the middle book, I’d be giving it a good rating and probably recommending you pick it up, and calling it a must-have for anyone who is big on storytelling poems. I’m not, however.
 

Verdict: I give 3 shits (on a 5 shit scale).