An intriguing collection of poems that will take more than one reading or a deal of pondering over each poem. The short lines do not complete a thought and the lack of punctuation leaves the reader to find structure in the lines and create meaning between the words. I am reminded of the first time I read Gertrude Stein's Tiny Buttons.

Available September 21, 2018 ( )

Evolution
by Eileen Myles
2018
Grove Press
5 / 5

I am absolutely blown away by this collection of poems, essays and speeches. Poems about belonging, desire, self-consciousness, politics, The Shakers (I´ve been fascinated by the shakers for years, read all i can find) and the process of being human-capable and culpable-how we evolve as individuals.
Myles is absorbing and expressive and one of the best gay poets I´ve read. I find her fascinating with an intelligence and depth that is honest and refreshing to read.
I highly recommend this book by one of New Yorkś most essential writers.
p. 7-8:
¨....Anyone here could probably tell me how many countries have legally elected socialist presidents, and moderate presidents and communist presidents and much revered and inspiring presidents and our government in response utterly disregarding their electoral process funded a right-wing autocrat, a human-rights violator who would make a deal. I don´t know if we are the most corrupt nation on earth. Does it need to start there? It´s just that having taken the land from one people and then dragged another people from their continent to work on it for free and then deciding that you want California and Texas and Montana and Idaho and New Mexico and Arizona so you take that from another people I mean when I think that Los Angeles was a Mexican City in 1848. We just thought we would take it. And our soldiers went into veracruz raping people. Just cause they could. And now were going to build a wall......¨
Essential. ( )