Marsh Hawk Press Blog

Death, and silence, is the distillation of complexity and diversity, of all these vibrant languages, forms and histories, into something which unites them. It is perfection, yet such is Eileen Tabios’ vitalizing disposition, that even this perfection cannot seem an end. It too becomes poetic affirmation:

           “Don’t ever stop.” Be mad with me. Be ecstasy. Be me. . .

One of our most prominent poet/painters, Basil King studied painting and writing at Black Mountain College with such lions as Charles Olson, Robert Duncan and Estaban Vincente. His new book is an inventive romp through the prism of painters. / A little like Spoon River Anthology, King starts with a name. All 77 poems are titled by names of painters. Within that framework King alternately speaks in their persona or digresses on their technique or milieu. Occasionally he breaks out into sequences as in an open field, five-part section based on “The Maids of Honor” by Diego Valesquez. / In “Thomas Eakins” King states, “there is no truth/but the truth that contains fantasies.” This decree could equally apply to King’s drawing of three benign-looking beasts opposite the text and is an altogether fitting description of his own incisive invention.

The curiosities and explorations of this poem from Claudia Carlon’s debut collection are central to the book—a poetic Bildungsroman, if you will, in which a young speaker’s nascent sexuality (and other important rites of passage) must navigate into the mixed messages and mysterious metaphors of the adult world. The poem is less about sex education as it is about the creativity and resilience of the young, and how during puberty we shape a context even for the most surprising of encounters. In this case, with the literature of fetishism, steamy romance novels, and pornography. Ah, memories.

Her father‘s dying does not soften Eileen Tabios‘ reflections on injustice. “April in Los Angeles” is a 120 verse contemplation on love, grief, horror, exhaustion and regret that zeroes in on the cost cutting cruelty practiced by modern hospitals. Tabios fans will discover that sorrow has neither blurred her outlook on world politics or injustice, nor smothered her passionate love of friends, family, and literary excellence. This autobiography in poetry and prose is typical Tabios -- intensely personal yet international in flavor -- with translations by and collaborations with her peers from other lands. Highly recommended.