The Daily Glance
Cole Swensen's poetry appears in the book Flare alongside of Thomas Nozkowski's images. Swensen's poems cover a variety of themes, but they center around the act of a solar flare. Other images/ideas repeat, such as earth images, animal images, the heart, and falling. With no titles, the book could be read as consisting of either many poems or one long one. I read it as a long one, but an interesting reading could be made of pieces on individual pages.
Cole Swensen's poetry appears in the book Flare alongside of Thomas Nozkowski's images. Swensen's poems cover a variety of themes, but they center around the act of a solar flare. Other images/ideas repeat, such as earth images, animal images, the heart, and falling. With no titles, the book could be read as consisting of either many poems or one long one. I read it as a long one, but an interesting reading could be made of pieces on individual pages.
the sun aloneThe short lines of this selection are more typical of the book than the one long line. Swensen's lines tend to be short and meditative, and she gently shifts her topics as she spirals through the poems. Also, interestingly, these pieces seem personal although Swensen avoids the first person (not completely, but mostly) throughout the book, focusing more on the second and third person. I wonder how that connects to Swensen's practice of ekphrastic poetry and whether the poems or images came first.
claiming 99% of the total mass of our solar system and as perfect sphere as you're likely to get
the twist of an ancient
arcade as it's aching
the oracular offer
of a blind port
on a winded point
upending
the after
a death
is a small thing
until it's not over.
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