Keeping the mystery intact.

Borson, Roo

The essence of poetry may be indescribable, but as a category poetry is deeply, essentially various in both form and sensibility. The following poems are a small sampling of the work I was privileged to see as the Arc Poet-in-Residence. I could happily have filled the entire issue. Each of the pieces included here can be enjoyed in itself, without introduction, but also, if you like, as a representative of one of the very particular, boundlessly multiple directions poetry can take. To that end, I offer a few brief comments on some of the special qualities that caught my eye.

Sneha Madhavan-Reese compresses what could have been written as a long dramatic story into just a few lines, keeping the story's mystery and energy intact. Kurt Trzcinski leads us adroitly, through close attention to the larger natural world and an apparently plain-spoken style, to sudden illuminations. Jane Awde Goodwin's music of repetition and variation unexpectedly brings us to a related illumination: the amazing intimacies--psychological, emotional, physical--implicit in our everyday domestic surround. Abby Paige heightens luscious imagery to the level of symbol. Kim Crosier dazzles with a pure, and highly individual, verbal gift.