The Steady Clockwork Rise and Fall of Time: Poems 1990-2000

Best known for his mind-bending forays into American Magical Realism (Missing Time and Other Stories: 13 Sidereal Crossings) , and for his mastery of the confessional social essay (the moving Warriors, Peacemakers and the Embarrassing Question of Love: A Peacenik's Memoir of the 1991 Gulf War, among many others.) , rising literary luminary Jack Preston King turns his estimable talents to poetry in this satisfying exploration of a broad spectrum of human experience, from those poetic stand-by's love and loss, to the spiritual "fringe" topics King handles so well in his fiction (shamanism, Gnostic takes on traditional religion, even a tongue-in-cheek poke at crystal-waving New Agers) , to such kitsch, pop-culture oddities as flying saucers, Catholic bingo-night, angels and a lamentational longing to "... build a world - Where's it's always Halloween..." These are visionary poems you won't soon forget, from an emerging talent well worth watching. Recommended.