"0" is a mantra-like poem that I wrote after I had completed the sixty-four poems that constitute my book, "Black Box Syndrome," which is based on the I Ching hexagrams. I wanted to return to an origin, an aperture that serves as a telos, and that origin was the body itself, the locus solus of the multiple voices, images, and idioms that are scattered and filtered through the hexagram form.
Jose-Luis Moctezuma on "0" |
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Celebrate National Poetry Month with Our Readers
"After reading 'Metropolitan' by Patty Nash, there was new life in the scratch papers, refrigerator to-dos, lost notes—all scribbles had gained significance! The poem showed me that a convenient numbered list can hold everything, including unlimited sinks. All of the lists I make to fend off anxiety and discombobulation can be more than their utility. As a writer, this taught me that a mundane form should not be overlooked, and to shift my perspective to discover and create poetry in my routine writing. Rendering a day at the museum in this way with vivid imagery made me want to go wander through one myself, with a notebook at the ready."
Mads Katz |
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"Arthur Sze's Poetic Journey"
"Arthur Sze's new book of poems leads off with a simple image or two. It’s easy to track the course of their imprint on the mind, how they nudge open new doors of perception. Close your eyes after reading the first bit of the opening poem, 'Anvil,' and you might see a burned impression of the inky butterfly drifting by. The second line uses the movement of wings to propel you to apple trees silhouetted against a sky. As with the butterfly, you might picture the branches like a photographic negative. Maybe they’re casting long shadows on the ground below, extending the possibilities of the line. You can almost smell their sweet blossoms."
viaNEW MEXICO MAGAZINE |
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