The Listening: Poems

Cave Canem Poetry Prize

by Kyle Dargan, Quincy Trope (Foreword by), Quincy Troupe (Foreword)

Kyle Dargan's debut collection of poetry, The Listening, searches through the cluttered surface of contemporary life to tune into the elemental sounds within the marrow of living/life. Throughout the collection, Dargan interweaves elements of his heritage with the present day--jazz influences blend with hip-hop; neoslave narratives run parallel with the intimate tale of civil rights leaders; post-9/11 America is juxtaposed with family portraits of the sixties and seventies--to reveal the continuous, though ever changing, music of the world around us. Whether capturing the famous Ali-Frazier fight in Manila or a trip to the local barbershop, Muddy Waters or boyhood blacktop games, Dargan gives voice to the most poignant and fleeting aspects of our everyday existence. With singular incisiveness and vigor, these poems act simultaneously as psalms and elegies, praising life at the same time they lament its inevitable passing.

Genres: Poetry

104 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2004

About the author

KYLE DARGAN is author of the poetry collection Anagnorisis (Northwestern UP, 2018), which was awarded the 2019 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize and longlisted for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. His four previous collections, Honest Engine (2015), Logorrhea Dementia (2010), Bouquet of Hungers (2007) and The Listening (2003)--were all published by the University of Georgia Press. For his work, he has received the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and grants from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. His books have also been finalists for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Eric Hoffer Awards Grand Prize. Dargan has partnered with the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities to produce poetry programming at the White House and Library of Congress. He's worked with and supports a number of youth writing organizations, such as 826DC, Writopia Lab, Young Writers Workshop and the Dodge Poetry high schools program.

Reviews

[Jonathan Tennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for school. Better than a lot of what I've had to read. Based on only reading this collection I would read other of his work. My favorites were: Of the Sun, Single-Ride, * Early nineties urban slang for no-name sneakers, Chiaroscuro.

[Aidan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional poetry. And I think Kyle was like 23 or 24 when he wrote this. Amazing! The maturity, intellect and poetics in here shine through. What a talent!

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Describing the experience of reading really good poetry is difficult. I appreciate what Emily Dickinson said about reading poetry: "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know it is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know it is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?"

Kyle Dargan writes that kind of poetry. The Listening was his first collection, but it doesn't read like a debut effort. At the time the book was published, he was still in the MFA program at Indiana University but he writes with the assurance of a man who is already a master of his craft. He uses sound and linguistic gymnastics to weave his verses--mixing jazz and hip-hop to create his own lyric voice. This is the real deal and the best news is that he has two more collections of poetry out there waiting to be read.

I always feel inadequate when I get ready to review a book of poetry. I feel like the philistine in the art gallery: I don't know a lot about art, but I know what I like. And I like what Dargan does with these poems. A lot.

This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks!

[Cedric]

One of the most intensely lyrical and immensely talented poets I've read...ever. I know that sounds crazy but really, you got to check the dude. There are times that I got lost on meaning (hence the rating) but I was completely mesmerized by the language and the music. Really got to get his second book. Boy is bad.

[Qiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Later.