Salen's seventh chapbook contains 11 thematic sharp-edged poems, each a correlated study of a specific surrealist, or a surrealist's work. Utilizing 2 & 3 line stanzas of free verse in a minimalistic pseudo-Haiku twist, Salen has trapped an epiphany between the frightening pace of his drumbeat cadences. There is something very primal here. "He laughs brokenly/ His tongue catches/ and sticks/ the blue syllables/ fall to the floor/ and shatter/ diamonds/ hours/ precious light" Though not pure surrealism, the association is there through the theme and surprise. There is the primary delight of the French Symbolists underlying this work, a journey to a land of dream-like machinations. "Coincidence squared/ equals/ déjà vu."--R.R. Lee Etzwiler
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #4,
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Copyright Burning Press 1994, 1995.