Yonder

by Rodger Kamenetz

Rodger Kamenetz asks the most accurate and urgent questions in his wonderful new collection—and he has the wisdom not to answer them (except with other, better questions), so that each stop is a starting place, and we are constantly delighted as we discover the limits of what we thought we learned. Recognition and misrecognition are key motifs in these exquisite prose poems, and while it may be in the latter that the poetry of the truth most brilliantly flowers, each step of the process has the elegant and inevitable pacing of a religious vision. Don’t be afraid to be converted! Readers who enter this book will find themselves in a dreamy resonant meditative space of Keatsian uncertainty and Kafkaesque parable, where attention is a devotion, and the lyric speaker seeks a knowledge which brings both redemption and further damage. A splendid antidote to our image and brand-obsessed in Yonder identity is sought in order to be surrendered. Give in! “In dream logic we pour like smoke from one body to another.”--Laura Mullen

106 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2020

Reviews

[C. Varn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kamenetz's prose poetry is heavily influenced by surrealism and koans. Metaphors and references abound but there is a delight in Kamenetz's dreams and allusions. While dream logic abounds, the language of the work grounds.