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—C.G. Hanzlicek,
SAMPLE POEMS |
The Lost Country of Sight Anhinga Press 2008 2007 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry ISBN 978-1-934695-06-7 Cover design by Lynne Knight * Purchase from Anhinga Press * Purchase from Amazon * Purchase from SPD Books |
The voice in these poems is that of a sighted, awake heart discovering its home in language and its homelessness
in the world. Steeped in longing, the imagination here is concrete, vivid, sensuous, and ultimately erotic, even
as it perceives that meaning and beauty are evanescent. This book is a full helping from the world's infinite fund
of tears.
—Li-Young Lee
Fueled by motion and emotion, Neil Aitken’s The Lost Country of Sight is literally and figuratively a
moving collection. His winding roads and "ghost cars" move us over the landscapes of identity and personal history
with stirring meditative grace. "There is a song at the beginning of every journey" Aitken tells us in one poem even
as he says in another, “these are journeys we never take.” This poet is our both our wise, wide-eyed tour guide
and our dazed, day-dreaming companion in The Lost Country of Sight. This is a rich, mature debut.
—Terrance Hayes