Fragments of a Nocturne

By Mark Blaeuer

With his trained eye supplementing his poetic vision, Mark Blaeuer reminds us that the body is composed of both minerals and memories, and we come to and from the same still place. This book has the smell of earth all over it. With the brevity and deft turns which typify Blaeuer's style, the title poem sees the moon as both "ancient midwife" and "the size of a tumor." Clear-eyed, Blaeuer explores the bond of life and death, and the god of solitude seems to walk with him. His poems are detailed and telling observations of human ties to the environment. The isness of the business of life is what matters. The precision of his phrasing is outstanding, from the arch comedy of "Tableau" to the natural-religious in "Easter" with its "faith / in the body / temporal" and "Blessing of the Stones": "Because the stones are not concerned / about survival, beauty lives." Here is a poet offering "Warmth to all life" without denying either its violence or its beauty. For Blaeuer, the world deepens through being seen as it is. He listens to the earth, and it sings for him. ~ Cally Conan-Davies Mark Blaeuer's poems, like that wonderful image of a bird carved on a brick (from "Clay"), bear witness to a rich engagement with the world, telling us again and again that "there was a real bird also, and it flew." To enter the thoughtful and complex world of this book is to encounter poems with wit and humor, with dense, clanging music, and with a fine-tuned and varied sense of form. By the end of this beautiful volume, we, like the flea market proprietor in "Tableau" will say, "Look, this is poetry." ~ Davis McCombs Mark Blaeuer digs through stones and dirt. He finds the bones of a Romanov here, a blessing from a village priest there. In water, he sees drowned trees and the reflection of gods. There's something elemental and dangerous happening here. Handle these pages carefully, and don't open the blinds. Someone's watching. ~ Russell Streur

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 069227720X
• ISBN13: 9780692277201
• Release Date: September 2014
• Publisher: White Violet Press
• Length: 76 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.2" x 6.0"