The Sissies
Evan Kennedy
"THE SISSIES sings the body stigmatic (pummeled, benevolent, maligned) though it knows better than to hold out for unearthly transcendence. As a peer, I am envious and relieved to read poetry that is bare-chested, electric, and rare in its merger of poetic intuition with rigorous thought. 'Let me speak as no one's captive,' Kennedy writes, unfettered by trend or pretense. This book makes me believe in our vocation again."—Corrine Fitzpatrick
"The triple body of the text, like any sanctified uni-trinity worthy the name, 'perform[s] a superhuman etiquette toward the rest of creation.' Here the trinity is queer/poet/urban cyclist whose body speeds with nervy fragility across cityscapes of bursting apotheosis. The body and its relinquishment, never-ending sources of mystical wonder, occasion subjective transcendence according to a cyclical template: that of the praise song, especially St. Francis of Assisi's famous prayer, paying pan-theistic tribute to all elements of creation, from the cockroach to the dog-masked boys that litter the uni-trinity of his life, which, like his body, his mind and his text, are an exhilarating eco-system, a linguistic 'wildlife sanctuary.'"—Maria Damon
"The triple body of the text, like any sanctified uni-trinity worthy the name, 'perform[s] a superhuman etiquette toward the rest of creation.' Here the trinity is queer/poet/urban cyclist whose body speeds with nervy fragility across cityscapes of bursting apotheosis. The body and its relinquishment, never-ending sources of mystical wonder, occasion subjective transcendence according to a cyclical template: that of the praise song, especially St. Francis of Assisi's famous prayer, paying pan-theistic tribute to all elements of creation, from the cockroach to the dog-masked boys that litter the uni-trinity of his life, which, like his body, his mind and his text, are an exhilarating eco-system, a linguistic 'wildlife sanctuary.'"—Maria Damon
Year
2016
Length
104 pages
Cover
Softback
Binding
Perfect binding
Dimensions
15 x 20 cm.
