Mark Irwin Boeken

Preface -- Distortion in the contemporary lyric and prose poem -- Distortion and disjunction in contemporary American poetry -- Distortion within poetry, nature, culture, and media -- Poetry, reality, & place in a placeless world of global communication -- Toward a wilderness of the artificial -- Concept, hyperbole, and truth as forms of abstraction in poetry -- The poem as concept -- Three notions of truth in poetry -- Distortion, transition, and memorability in poetry -- Raising poetry to a higher power -- Poetry & memorability -- Temporal distortion & originality in poetry -- Poetry & originality: "have you been there before?"--Origin, presence, and time in the poetry of W.S. Merwin -- Jorie Graham: kite's body and beyond -- A romp through Ruefleland: Mary Ruefle's Selected poems & Madness, rack, and honey: collected lectures -- Myth and archetype as forms of abstraction -- Orpheus, Parzival, and Bartleby: ways of abstraction in poetry

This remarkable poetry collection captures the essence of America in the late 20th century, reflecting the nation's complexities and cultural shifts. Through powerful language and evocative imagery, the poems delve into themes of identity, societal change, and the human experience, offering a poignant commentary on the era. The work stands out for its emotional depth and relevance, resonating with readers who seek to understand the nuances of American life during this transformative period.

A book of inquiry, Mark Irwin's Shimmer queries how the worlds of poverty, terrorism, ecology, species extinction, mortality and race interface and affect one another through electronic reproduction and transmission. Not as spectacles but as events that often seem too familiar, many are featured on YouTube: a horse still alive, dragged to be slaughtered; a homeless mother with an infant; a terrorist disguising a bomb, a Vietnam veteran attempting to commit suicide, a mother, unable to speak, who communicates by drawing different colors. Shimmer explores those places where metropolis and the natural world collide, where virtual technology attempts to convey the spirit. The incursion of electronic communication throughout society as a form of human language, has radically distorted and impacted notions of form and space in contemporary poetry, just as it has impacted the idea of what it means to be human.

As the surviving Squad members attempt to recover from their disastrous Gotham City mission, we learn a dark secret that has been festering in the team since issue #1: a traitor stalks the Suicide Squad! The saboteur's mission: Assassinate Amanda Waller, expose the Squad and leave Task Force X in ruins! The Basilisk strikes!