"Strange Symbol" is the first poem I've written in a fractured form, and I found the process both intimidating and liberating. Without traditional lines or punctuation, the blunt, breathy rhythm became the unit that carried me all the way through. I owe a great deal to Seamus Heaney's poem "Punishment" and his notion of the "artful voyeur," which catapulted this poem toward revelations about violence and regret. Meanwhile, the real-life donkey, Mookie, is sweet, happy, and has clean hooves!
Rob Shapiro on "Strange Symbol" |
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"The Best Recent Poetry – Review Roundup"
"What sounds surreal in McCrae's jazz-like poetry is actually human psychology, knowledge and violence, as when the poet asks 'Where else do humans start' in the knowledge that 'Cain named / The animal in Abel's head.' In addition to McCrae's sustained biblical investment, the book includes intimate poems about childhood and questioning reflections on masculinity and the unpredictable chain reactions of family life. It confirms McCrae as one of the most erudite and inventive poets of our time."
via THE GUARDIAN |
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What Sparks Poetry:
Moheb Soliman (Great Lakes, MN) on Ecopoetry Now
"This brings you to 'On the water;' this is where the poem dwells. Trying to dream about water, or the opposite—sleep on water. A poem as oblivious as you could get to the complaints above. There are other poems in the book that are more critically, consciously, 'ecopoetic.' When you were asked months ago to choose one and discuss your earth-centered poetics through it, a dozen others came to mind—poems that fessed up to climate change and sea-level rise and invasive species." |
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