Terminator

Love, science, and politics collide in this sharp assessment of who we are now, in a generous selection of work by the award-winning poet.

The terminator--the line, perpendicular to the equator, that divides night from day--is the organizing concept for this collection, which examines a world where "pert, post-apocalyptic / entertainment trades have trod the pocked / planet raw." Kenney's division of light verse from darker poems serves to remind us that what makes us laugh is often dead serious, and what's most serious can be best understood through wordplay, an ironic eye, the cleaving and joining magically effected by metaphor. With grace and candor, Richard Kenney thumbs through our troubles like a precious but scratched collection of vinyl: "the nature of emotion's analog, while languages are digital." From "Siri, Why Do I Wear a Necktie?" to the eternal springing of love ("Magnetic swipe to the blinking lock / is me to you"), Kenney reminds us that art's the best weapon to maintain our wits in very challenging times.

Iubirea, stiinta si politica se ciocnesc in aceasta evaluare ascutita a cine suntem acum, intr-o selectie generoasa de lucrari ale poetului premiat. Terminatorul - linia, perpendiculara pe ecuator, care imparte noaptea de zi - este conceptul de organizare pentru aceasta colectie, care examineaza o lume in care „meseriile pert, post-apocaliptice / de divertisment au calcat pocked / planeta bruta”. Impartirea versurilor usoare ale lui Kenney din poeziile mai intunecate ne aminteste ca ceea ce ne face sa radem este adesea grav si ca ceea ce este cel mai grav poate fi inteles cel mai bine prin jocuri de cuvinte, un ochi ironic, clivarea si imbinarea efectuate magic prin metafora.