Poetry

"We work as poets and take seriously what seems to most men the one ground surely not to be taken seriously. . ."

Robert Duncan. The Truth and life of Myth

Cuckoo

Peter Streckfus' book The Cuckoo was published in 2004 as one of the Yale Younger Poets chosen by Louise Gluck.

It is an astounding book, original, delicate and diabolical. It's full of Koans and parables, admonitions and advice, sounds, devices and delights (fear these). Sayings and doings, not riddles. Nor even puzzles. Crying motorcycles, talking trees, people padding across heaven, humiliation and short jubilations. Penises. The Pure Land Cloister of Lo-Yang. In the tradition of the Koan, here are some lines from different poems:

"The perfect boy who drew me to the ground returned to his bath unopposed. "

" Trust the moth that flutters in your shirt"

"We, in the truck with the celery"

"Why did you have to use your tricks to harm me"

"I'll speak nonsense. You speak truth. We'll see what comes of it."


A remarkable book, and I didn't even read Gluck's introduction until . . .