Structural Lyricism: Poetry Without Metaphor

By J A Gucci

Structural Lyricism: Poetry Without Metaphor presents a sequence of poems composed as systems rather than expressions of narrative or metaphor. Each poem begins from an observable condition and proceeds through alteration, threshold, or displacement, allowing meaning to emerge through arrangement instead of explanation.

The language retains a lyrical surface-images, proximity, and sensory detail-while the underlying method remains strictly structural. The poems are organized through triadic systems that hold tension across states, compressing experience into precise configurations of change. Meaning does not precede this movement; it arises from relation, sequencing, and variation.

Across the collection, patterns recur, disperse, and reappear in altered form. Some transformations are immediate, while others are delayed or withheld, leaving only their effects visible. The sequence accumulates through shifts in density, pacing, and compression, producing a reading experience shaped by structure rather than interpretation.

By removing metaphor as a compositional tool while preserving intensity through form, Structural Lyricism challenges conventional expectations of lyric poetry. It offers a rigorous approach to composition in which contradiction is sustained rather than resolved, and structure carries the experience.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1972788183
• ISBN13: 9781972788189
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Pressure System Press
• Length: 100 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"