Masks

by Victor Coleman

Victor Coleman has played with and explored the subtleties of Oulipian procedures for many years, bringing his own imagination and impeccable ear to the revivifying possibilities arrangement offers poetry in lieu of the predictable outpourings of “identity” in the Commercial Poetry Product. With Masks he has reached a point that leaves you breathless in the face of mastery. These Masks confront us with the reality of language’s creative production, pushing identity aside in a celebration of composition – dare I say -- as explanation. Joy, he writes, “must have been / of a different nature / while enjoying the beauty / of the clear blue moon / clothed in old pillars / with awe-inspiring light.” Here, old pillars shine again in the light of the blue moon, and joy dances among them, weaving delightful masks out of the language that composes us all. —Michael Boughn

72 pages, Paperback

Published December 15, 2015