The Unstoppable Mr. Hollo continues w/ this suite of Lyrical Abstractions, as I see it, ending Unabashed & Grinning: "...dear woman I name Dream// dear called Because/ with you, a thousand years would not be long enough." (She responds, I might add, w/ a series of striking drawings, one to each poem--breaking cubism's logic into more mysterious, interwoven figures). Of course the "west" implicated is not just geographic but, ultimately, that whole cultural monster we inherit from the ancients; "Odyss on the old plate/ looked so comfortable in his body old enough/ to fit a few words together." Not merely erudite--as if that weren't enough--but Space Age Anselm, looking into the kiln of stars: "wee terrible human race/ soon to go down or else into space." Agh, take comfort in this Marriage of Heart & Head, rare for poetry: "...who wasn't really a misanthrope/ merely defined/ anthropos/ very strictly." (Did I forget to mention Wit?) There's even a great pæan to the Mail--& what poet hasn't wanted to write something like that?--Mark DuCharme
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #4,
Contact the editor, luigi-bob drake, at Burning Press
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