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Splay Anthem

by Nathaniel Mackey

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1041259,896 (3.75)7
Part antiphonal rant, part rhythmic whisper, Nathaniel Mackey's new collection of poems,Splay Anthem, takes the reader to uncharted poetic spaces. Divided into three sections--"Braid," "Fray," and "Nub" (one referent Mackey notes in his stellar Introduction: "the imperial, flailing republic of Nub the United States has become, the shrunken place the earth has become, planet Nub")--Splay Anthem weaves together two ongoing serial poems Mackey has been writing for over twenty years, "Song of the Andoumboulou" and "Mu" (though "Mu no more itself / than Andoumboulou"). In the cosmology of the Dogon of West Africa, the Andoumboulou are progenitor spirits, and the song of the Andoumboulou is a song addressed to the spirits, a funeral song, a song of rebirth."Mu," too, splays with meaning:muni bird, Greekmuthos, a Sun Ra tune, a continent once thought to have existed in the Pacific. With the vibrancy of a Mira painting, Mackey's poems trace the lost tribe of "we" through waking and dreamtime, through a multitude of geographies, cultures, histories, and musical traditions, as poetry here serves as the intersection of everything, myth's music, spirit lift.… (more)
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Most people are quite predictable. Creatures of habit, repeating repetitive ideas of normality, scared to step outside of the box they have labeled themselves. Most of us, are comfortable with our limitations and comforted by them.

Reading a great book of poetry is meeting the person who pushes each day outside of the realm of yesterday. While most of us awake each day to the resemblence of yesterday, the daring search for opportunities to change.

In Nathaniel Mackey's Splay Anthem, I found my daring companion. (Oh faithful is the poet who knows he can whisper louder than he screams.)

Splay Anthem is an experience within two ongoing serial poems Song of the Andoumboulou and "Mu". Mackey's binary star is a beautiful fusion of the the griot's message with the griot's drum. Rhythm and alliteration.

Makey's collection is the patriach, esteemed professor of community elder who who tells his stories two to five pages at a time. There is so much bound to each page, that one must study for weeks before returning to hear the same two paged story again, with new understanding.

Mackey, I want to know why the Moor sighs and inevitably why the Andoumboulou sings. I want to meet the people of Nub, and ask if they know where they are? Can I hear Nazakat and Salamat? Can I see Sekmet?

And so I return to Splay Anthem with questions. I recieve answers to some, others I must wait for. I am moved by the rhythm but not comforted by it. The rhythm jolts me out of my comfort zone. I am forced to read, reread and reexamine. Enjoyment is no longer an idle excercize. ( )
1 vote LheaJLove | Dec 3, 2006 |
Mackey’s poetry has long straddled the divide between voice and sound, and between sound and noise; his novels (he’s published three so far) and a significant number of his critical writings—academic and otherwise—also engage blurred categories. Where his poetry might seem to get knotty, it’s sometimes best to surrender to its lush wash of sound carrying sense through disorientation. At least that’s what his characters do.
 
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Part antiphonal rant, part rhythmic whisper, Nathaniel Mackey's new collection of poems,Splay Anthem, takes the reader to uncharted poetic spaces. Divided into three sections--"Braid," "Fray," and "Nub" (one referent Mackey notes in his stellar Introduction: "the imperial, flailing republic of Nub the United States has become, the shrunken place the earth has become, planet Nub")--Splay Anthem weaves together two ongoing serial poems Mackey has been writing for over twenty years, "Song of the Andoumboulou" and "Mu" (though "Mu no more itself / than Andoumboulou"). In the cosmology of the Dogon of West Africa, the Andoumboulou are progenitor spirits, and the song of the Andoumboulou is a song addressed to the spirits, a funeral song, a song of rebirth."Mu," too, splays with meaning:muni bird, Greekmuthos, a Sun Ra tune, a continent once thought to have existed in the Pacific. With the vibrancy of a Mira painting, Mackey's poems trace the lost tribe of "we" through waking and dreamtime, through a multitude of geographies, cultures, histories, and musical traditions, as poetry here serves as the intersection of everything, myth's music, spirit lift.

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Part antiphonal rant, part rhythmic whisper, Nathaniel Mackey’s new collection of poems, Splay Anthem, takes the reader to uncharted poetic spaces. Divided into three sections—”Braid,” “Fray,” and “Nub” (one referent Mackey notes in his stellar Introduction: “the imperial, flailing republic of Nub the United States has become, the shrunken place the earth has become, planet Nub”)—Splay Anthem weaves together two ongoing serial poems Mackey has been writing for over twenty years, “Song of the Andoumboulou” and “Mu” (though “mu no more itself / than Andoumboulou”). In the cosmology of the Dogon of West Africa, the Andoumboulou are progenitor spirits, and the song of the Andoumboulou is a song addressed to the spirits, a funeral song, a song of rebirth. “Mu,” too, splays with meaning: muni bird, Greek muthos, a Sun Ra tune, a continent once thought to have existed in the Pacific. With the vibrancy of a Miró painting, Mackey’s poems trace the lost tribe of “we” through waking and dreamtime, through a multitude of geographies, cultures, histories, and musical traditions, as poetry here serves as the intersection of everything, myth’s music, spirit lift. (New Directions Publishing)
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