4thace reviewed Sight Lines by Arthur Sze
Work by a poet rooted in both the East and the West
4 stars
Here is another thin volume of this poet's work, which came out just a couple years before the large collection The Glass Constellation and contains the title poem in that work. I like how the poems are described as "braided" with images weaving through one another across line boundaries but remaining distinct. A poem might start out talking about the actions of some character, switch to the description of some saesonal ritual, then talk about a scene from nature, all without transitions or explanations. The reader experiences moments which might be in sequence or simultaneous, harmonious or discordant, which can take up some enormous space in the world. Life can bring experiences of peace and violence.
Last year this poet was honored by the Library of Congress with the Rebekah Johnson Babbitt prize for lifetime achievement. I find his work stimulating and enigmatic at the same time.
Here is another thin volume of this poet's work, which came out just a couple years before the large collection The Glass Constellation and contains the title poem in that work. I like how the poems are described as "braided" with images weaving through one another across line boundaries but remaining distinct. A poem might start out talking about the actions of some character, switch to the description of some saesonal ritual, then talk about a scene from nature, all without transitions or explanations. The reader experiences moments which might be in sequence or simultaneous, harmonious or discordant, which can take up some enormous space in the world. Life can bring experiences of peace and violence.
Last year this poet was honored by the Library of Congress with the Rebekah Johnson Babbitt prize for lifetime achievement. I find his work stimulating and enigmatic at the same time.