Description
If William Blake’s “Proverbs of Hell” are poetry, then George Quasha’s preverbs are like a close cousin. Its core question is: can poetry say the unsayable? Preverbs wonder: what is poetry? A well established poetic tradition both modern and post-modern—some call it experimental—starts its poetics with: poetry is not what you think it is. Its work is journeying inside language, as if passing through a distant country or else another reality. It conveys news of alternate dimensions showing through in the here-and-now, embedded inside our everyday thoughts and speaking.
“‘Words say too much to let you know the truth.’ George Quasha’s torqued, enigmatic preverbs create unlikely balances among discrepant engagements. The vectors of these marvelous poems work at cross purposes, keeping each other aloft. These are sparkling aphoristic aporias for a new age in an old time. “Poetry,” says Quasha, “resists immortality with difficulty.” And also with wit and charm. Be here now, in which case immortality will take care of itself.”—Charles Bernstein
