a mere plea to Alli Warren got me her chapbook, Hounds. you could do likewise, with felicitous reward. the book is, I infer, a homemade production. shouldn't poets go vertical, production-wise? isn't that reasonable? like, should a painter ask someone to put the paint on the canvas? well, I applaud that she has put this book together, presumably paid the printer, presumably stitched the pages. and it looks like medical adhesive tape to seal the envelope! go ahead, poets, command the means of production! beyond that, Kasey's right, Jordan's right, Ron's right: she's a terrific poet. Beth took it from my hand before I had hardly read a word and said wow. the very 1st lines:

"As the doors parted
toward the shore
"both oceans vied
for my heart and the Pacific
one won"

the concentration of emotional sensation startles me in her writing. I don't know how she boils it down so well, pleonasm is my own weakness, but still. the results are not, natheless, austere. does she write quickly, or does she sculpt and craft? I have been collaborating with Jeff Harrison for 3+ years, and have learned from him. I think I have gained a trust in telescoping conjunctions of words. I have this burden of wanting to make sense. to offset that quixotic ridiculousness, I jump syntax and disjunct the easy plan. I mean, I could teach as well as learn. and I identify an effort in her work that resonates with my own design. Alli Warren has an ability similar to Jeff's, to put strong words together. she works in a slight oddity that seems fresh and giving. I don't know her procedures but I suppose she flarfs: she gathers, listens, trusts. the writing is keen, situated, fresh. I want my adjectives to have heart here, because this is poetry that deserves commendation for its serious intent amidst the flow and fluff of Poetry World. because we're all beset by ambition, neurotic expectation, glamour and plain shit. I don't want to talk about author photos. to write here is an exercise for me. I don't want to praise, I want to point to the real things I find on the road. and I get from Alli's poetry that she is learning. that's the big whammer jammer for me.