A collection of short poems and poetic essays, bringing the personal and the literary into conjunction in a deliberate and effective way. Beginning with an essay, "Poetry Has Nothing To Do With Politics" (the thesis being, I think, that poetry "precedes intention, choice, and dialogue"), the book moves into poems set in Turkey, Egypt, and Paris, transcriptions from the Spanish of Lorca and the Armenian of Zahrad, sustained references to Rimbaud and Mallarme, and the poetic territory set forth explicitly by Duncan and Spicer. The poems unabashedly take part in history, ringing with voices, but not neglecting the personal or the present tense.--Jeff Conant
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #3,
Contact the editor, luigi-bob drake, at Burning Press
Copyright Burning Press 1993, 1995.