The Orchestra of Wind Chimes (Made in Michigan Writers Series)

by: Geoffrey Jacques (author) (Author)

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Publication Date: 30 Mar. 2023

Language: English

Print Length: 104 pages

ISBN-10: 0814350380

ISBN-13: 9780814350386

Book Description

This powerful collection of poems draws on American and African- American experimental lyric traditions, pushing language and form to their limits. Geoffrey Jacques’s poetry inspires deep thought, taking up themes of music, psychology, and literature. This work embodies the potential of poetry to forge new connections between aesthetic expression and the often onerous facts of human existence. Poems such as “Still Life” and “Detour Ahead” produce a juxtaposition of inspired poetic form and rich, complex realities of life, addressing topics of joy and love, race, class, politics, and the aesthetics of the everyday. With a contemporary and sophisticated tenor, Jacques lends his uniquely moving and provocative perspective to advancing discourse in these critical topics. For all of the social themes they address, these poems equally serve to investigate modes of producing poetry in general. “Ars Poetica,” “The Problem of Speech Genres,” “The Subject of the Poem,” and many others directly challenge traditional notions of form through intentional and intricate reflexive commentary. Through these poems, Jacques has achieved a balance between form and function, allowing readers to embark on a rhythmic jouey of expression, language, and human existence.