Sukun
New and Selected Poems
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The poetry of Kazim Ali “invites us to give ourselves over to the music of language” (Beloit Poetry Journal). Known for its lyrical and expressive language, “crafted with a controlled, delicate quality that never stops questioning, never stops teaching, and never stops astounding,” (American Poet), Ali’s work explores themes of identity, migration, and the intersections of cultural and spiritual traditions.
Sukun (Arabic for stillness or rest, as well as being a diacritic that indicates there is no vowel to pronounce following a consonant) draws from a generous selection from Ali’s six full-length collections. This remarkable volume also includes 25 astonishing new poems and an afterword by the poet. Together, they allow us to trace Ali's passions and concerns and to take the measure of his art: the close attention to the spiritual and the visceral, and the deep language play that is at once musical and plain spoken.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gathering selections from eight previous books, including The Voice of Sheila Chandra, this dazzling retrospective showcases Ali's multifaceted voice in poems of lyric daring. Ali's linguistic interests are seemingly infinite—from the Vedas to the roots of English and Arabic—but common threads reach across the poems, including migration, prayer, and the creative act itself. The initial lines of "Travel"—"Soon to leave/ Soon across the water/ Prepare the white clothes"—give a glimpse into the poet's preoccupation with movement through space, while the command to "prepare" adds to the mystery and spiritual register. Many poems explore the line between human and celestial spheres: "Speak in the language of myth and flowers if you must/ But translate it at least for the stone and dust." History weaves its way thoughtfully throughout, as in this stanza from "Junipero Serra Arrives," one of the 35 new poems that close out the collection: "In a Spain lost to inquisition/ Swept away that golden Jewish/ and Muslim age in wind and sun/ All its sea words blue and mispronounced/ From books that did not belong were miswritten/ The mosque roofs grow moss." Contemplative yet grounded, these poems form surprising and impactful connections.
