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Loading... Waifs and Strays (City Lights Spotlight)by Micah Ballard
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In the sixth publication in the City Lights Spotlight Poetry Series, Cajun poet Micah Ballard'sWaifs and Strays recombines the allure, fixations, and diction of the metaphysical poets with the alert and streetwise urban fracturing and amazements instantaneous in contemporary San Francisco. With the haunted elegance of Charles Baudelaire and the handmade warmth ofSemina,Waifs and Strays is a rejection of a slick and disposable culture. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,Micah Ballard studied at New College of California, working with David Meltzer, Joanne Kyger, and Tom Clark. He currently co-directs the MFA in writing program at University of San Francisco. He co-edits Auguste Press. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)811.6Literature English (North America) American poetry 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Fine. If you appreciate that quote, you'll probably get more out of this book than I did. I found these poems to be almost completely inscrutable and thoroughly confusing, and I apparently bought it without reading several poems beforehand, as I usually do. "First Lesson in Arabic" is a typical example:
First Lesson in Arabic
It was hard to see he was an ordinary man
that I was an ambassador
& there was no one you could trust besides the merchandise.
Some said he carved them forever
& even if I tried to forget the fragrance
would always bring me back.
There were alabaster jars, they had things written on them
painted figures, all of which were crossing a bridge
no one dared to drink from them, this I knew
his own kind wouldn't even whisper the secret of distillation.
It was said never to be recorded
not even through symbols, this I knew too
just past the first pull
If anyone understands this poem and wants this book, please send me a PM, and it's yours. ( )