The first thing to do when you read this magazine is fold the front cover over against the back cover so the blue shit doesn’t get all over your hands. The second thing to do is to prepare yourself for a feast of images. These images struggle to maintain a disconnectedness, and when Carroll makes it work, there’s a spontaneity that leaves the reader with the feeling of having dropped into a moment that exists to declare nothing but its own insignificance. And sometimes the images achieve a wonderful sense of abandon. But more often, the disconnectedness of the images leaves a taste of randomness within the narrative context of the poem. There’s a poem where a guy sees a doe and considers how a hunter could end the beauty of his vision with a quick pull of the trigger. Right in the midst of this poem Prometheus shows up for two lines, then disappears. It’s just not convincing. All in all, a little too whimsical for me.
poetry chapbook / publisher: KAW Publications / main creator: Patrick Carroll / $3 / 29 Lenore St., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 2C1