Revanches

by Steve McCaffery

Perhaps these poems were written for the brains of fleas, at least not the mind / brain opposition which lies at the basis of Cartesian theology. An insect world of insect works? Kafka would have relished this thought among the Hapsburg decomposition that gave birth to both himself and Freud. The lyric of rot might also work in places—a little too Bataille perhaps, and then again the deformation of signs is itself a master sign of Modernism. That said, domestic discourse networks emerge from pertinent, ambient ink and stylus, the first after petroglyphs, then that portable printing press the typewriter and the duplication machine, both ripe for creative misuse. The general title provides the French connection revenge but in another related sense a recovery or retrieval, watkuweis in the Nez Perce a retrieval from being lost. The majority, if not all, texts in this book are previously unpublished and are retrieved from file folders in an archive.

130 pages, Paperback

Published March 4, 2015

About the author

Steve McCaffery is the author of over twenty-five books of poetry and criticism. He has twice been awarded the Gertrude Stein Award for innovative poetry and twice shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. His poems have been published in more than a dozen countries. A long-time resident of Toronto, he is currently the David Gray Professor of Poetry and Letters, University at Buffalo.