Poets Brand New

"All our ingenuity is lavished on getting into danger legitimately so that we may be genuinely rescued." -Bob Frost

And thus we quote Bob Frost for the thousandth time and compile a hefty collection of up and coming poets, who have not published more than three books or outside the last seven years or so. After sifting through the collection, a good number of the poets begin to repeat each other in their stubborn, unintelligible fashion. I don't really buy into the avant-garde, but I do find that with cautious reading, you can discover some dynamic poets. Here's a look at a few from the collection entitled, "Leigitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century."

STEPHEN BURT

From what I gather, in lieu of his degrees from Harvard, Yale, and Oxford, Burt is more a valued and prolific critic of contemporary poetry than anything else (see his essay on the elliptical poets). So how does this verse guru fare in his own exercise? He uses an easy-going free form while experimenting with line, most notably with white space in "Ocean State" (an ode to Rhode Island) and "Paysage Moralisé" in which every line ends with the word “place.” "Paysage" resonates with a confused nostalgic tone, the speaker caught in wanderlust and attempting to find a “place” in this world. "Morningside Park" casts many images together to net the speaker’s discontent as he is tossed about a “vertiginous” day. Burt adheres to his own observations pertaining to recent poetry: how it captures persona and personality and “close calls with uncertainty [and] critiques of language.” I can see hints of O’Hara’s spontaneity as he walks down a street and journalizes in his head. Alas, Burt shows good hustle, but should stick to coaching.

DA POWELL

I am already a lover of Powell (reading through his trilogy Tea, Lunch, and Cocktails) and was more interested in what selections the editors would make than reading his work for the first time. His approach to the line is gutsy: his length either amplifies a moment in the poem or arguably contains a poem remotely. His diction stands out immediately and connects with the visceral emotion of his poems. Your mouth will have to work strenuously with the rhythm, length, and word choice. Almost a sexual experience to read his work, which I would not dismiss as unintentional. Ending poems with phrases such as “pull me quick into winter” add a mysterious quality which lures the reader into further readings. There is a confessional aspect to much of his work, namely his experience as a gay man with AIDS in America: combating the illness, being treated, side effects, and losing many friends to the disease. And of course there’s the attempt to fit into a homophobic society which does not want to grant homosexuals the same emotions and human capabilities as normal citizens. He has bravado, taking for himself what is rarely permissable, but never veering into the schmaltzy or preachy, while adding a healthy dose of self-deprecation and pop culture references to maintain a freshness to his work.

DAVID BERMAN

Eccentric. Berman’s surreal writing brings about disturbing revelations of reality. Traces of John Ashberry’s nightmarish reflection mixed with black humor. Favorite lines: “People who / wear turtlenecks must have really fucked-up necks” (Democratic Vistas). Big on persona. I can see evidence of cyncism left by Gluck here. Reads like prose at points. “Community College in the Rain” is a hilarious bizarre conversation between the “Dougs” and “Announcements” made at the school. Anti-establishment, man. “Wild hotels of the sea” is a tremendous metaphor in a poem that details instability so well. My self-assigned task is to check out his band, "The Silver Jews" and see if I can connect his music with his poetry in any way.