Boleros

by Jay Wright

Like Jay Wright's previous poetry, Boleros provokes in the reader "a passion for what is hidden," emphasizing names--of places, muses, saints' days--and the imaginative histories behind them. As always, the linguistic surface changes rapidly as Wright's geographic journeys become explicit explorations of poetic form. Boleros is more than a conventional collection of poems. Each part of the book connects to, engages with, and changes the others, so the book itself becomes a text in motion. These poems perform the creative process itself and succeed exquisitely in making the reader part of that process and its excitement.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1991

Reviews

[zb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable. One of the best poetry collections I've read in a long time. One to chew on and re-read: so many layers of emergent meaning!

There is another voice,
high in the White Mountains,
one we carried in your father’s urn
from appleless Jersey and scattered
in the moss shadow of a singular apple tree.
In spring,
it comes in the white-throated sparrow’s song,
a melisma of misery tempered by the thrill of survival.

Soon, the mauve summer sky
will strike its evening tympanum,
and move you through the deep waters of wonder
into a forgiving sleep.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fucking love this poet like a muse-less artist loves the bottle!

[ExeDavid · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Francisco Sánchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiene poemas extraños y bonitos, es curioso leer de repente la ciudad de Xalapa, pero el mismo libro dice que vivió tiempo allí. Así que nada raro la forma en que la describe.

[Anastasios Kozaitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps my most favorite single volume of poems.