Poetry is often mentioned as a vehicle for a poet’s exploration of his or her own life. Eric Quinn has taken this motif and run with it: born in Brazil, he offers memories of infancy and titles his book Amassunu, the amerindian word for the Amazon River; raised in Latin America and Europe, he writes of being a child and watching Quetzal birds feed or travelling though a land of witches; living on the eastern seaboard of the United States as an adult, he includes haiku about shoveling snow or struggling with a winter flu. The poet’s sharp concern with political events is captured in such poems as “Jewelry and the Blacksmith,” which contains his reflections on the events and aftermath of 9/11. His abiding interest in the process of poetry is the inspiration for “A Poet’s Truth.” And his love of history lies behind “The Reason of Cities.” Finally, there is an extended excerpt from his version of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Eric gives an overview of the book:
Poetry is often mentioned as a vehicle for a poet’s exploration of his or her own life. Eric Quinn has taken this motif and run with it: born in Brazil, he offers memories of infancy and titles his book Amassunu, the amerindian word for the Amazon River; raised in Latin America and Europe, he writes of being a child and watching Quetzal birds feed or travelling though a land of witches; living on the eastern seaboard of the United States as an adult, he includes haiku about shoveling snow or struggling with a winter flu. The poet’s sharp concern with political events is captured in such poems as “Jewelry and the Blacksmith,” which contains his reflections on the events and aftermath of 9/11. His abiding interest in the process of poetry is the inspiration for “A Poet’s Truth.” And his love of history lies behind “The Reason of Cities.” Finally, there is an extended...
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The Reason of Cities
1.
Take a stone; break it
shape its scars smooth
lay them one on another
crush it to dust
scatter it over the ground
in silver circles
or knap it like flint—
spreak the flakes
like dead teeth and
burned bone
2.
Draw a square
fill it with palms and
the sound of water
admit the girls,
their dancing amid
hair that spirals
as the night
or the horns
of a ram
tangled
in her cloven crown
3.
Remember the maze
and the womb
the wall as blood
gold—and the queen
hung like a lamb
in the cold cave
imperious, and staring
Note from the author coming soon...