Blue Mound To 161

by Garin Cycholl

Poetry. Winner of the Transcontinental Poetry Award for an outstanding first book-length collection of poetry or prose. "Human physical traceries, voices, and stories haunt this book. The story of the soil alone gives these interwoven poems their essential reminders: we make our lives, if we are lucky, with perceptions that open us and are then folded, each into the next. Cycholl's vision is austere but vivid. Here is a world where roadmaps are alive; where ditches give birth to miniscule evolutions of the organic life-force; where golden birds' skyward passageways invite us to swift flight andblessed return"--Judith Vollmer.

Genres: Poetry

74 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a college advanced poetry writing class with Cycholl and was interested to see what his own work looked like. He was also my thesis advisor, so I placed a lot of trust in his evaluation of my own work, and for good reason. I was satisfied upon reading "Blue Mound", because it gave me everything I was hoping to see with his poetry: beautifully crafted stanzas, an astounding knowledge of setting and the nature within the setting, his ability to splice segments of nonfiction work into his own piece, and a clear understanding of line breaks, punctuation, and other ways to dismantle poetry (or manipulate it, if you would rather think of it in that regard).

With this poem, I think Cycholl has shown undeniable ability and the focus to complete a poetic work of length. I look forward to reading more from Cycholl.