Review
"How else can a foreigner come to terms with such an unwieldy land, a people so full of endurance and fire?
"Slaughter's collection is one of enduring grief, his cross-cultural personal tango with a land beyond his comprehension. In 'Reading Tiananmen Square,' he writes: 'China a father who killed his own sons/ And this night, molested his daughters China China/ A living coffin in which I have been buried/for a thousand years.'
"In light of Deng Xiaoping's recent demise at age 92 and speculations of ensuing power struggles and possible massive bloodshed, William Slaughter's collection The Politics of My Heart may well resonate into the 21st century." -- Shalin Hai-Jew, Pacific Reader, Spring/Summer 1997
"William Slaughter's poetry collection The Politics of My Heart - based on mainland Chinese politics - repeats William Carlos Williams' concept of 'moral' poetry as a 'rival government.' This poet's heroes are those who are rebels against inhumane and authoritarian government -- the late writer Shen Congwen, Professor Xu and others
"William Slaughter's poetry evokes the images of a troubled people presently struggling towards freedom and the twenty-first century, yet holding on to concepts and values from an historic past. Slaughter's poetry is at once simple and profound, and most of all memorable. The Politics of My Heart is a highly recommended addition to the library poetry shelf." -- Diane Donovan, The Bookwatch, Sept. 1996
Beijing Bird Men
Callilgraphy Lesson
China
Chinese Bicycle Poem
Chinese Remedies
Climbing Tai Shan
Death In China
Fasting
Gulangyu
How I Became A Daoist Monk
How I Got My Chinese Name
Hungry Ghosts
Intellectuals In China
Laozi In Indiana
Leave-taking
Lines Written In China
Mad Woman
Mao's Ghost
Men Who Washed Their Ears: 1. Old Chao
Men Who Washed Their Ears: 2. For Shen Congwen, 1902-1988,one Of China
New China Poem
Poem With Birds And Clocks
The Politics Of My Heart
Professor Xu/madame Bovary/sparrow War
Quotations From Napoleon, Mao, And Others
Reading Tiananmen Square
Reporting From Beijing
Sentences For Jiang Qing: 1. China's Last Lady
Sentences For Jiang Qing: 2. Last Chapter And Verse
Sittings
Small Questions
Street Life, Street Death
Toward A Border Crossing
Until No Stone Is Left
Walking Across Tiananmen Square
Walking Backwards In Beijing
Walking The Corpse
What Chinese Men Have To Sing About
What The Students Knew
Where Confucius Is
The Woman On The Bridge
Zhong And Guo
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®
William Slaughter is a Professor of English at the University of North Florida and a much published author, poet and lecturer. The Politics Of My Heart is a collection of his verse based on his experiences with, and observations of, contemporary China. His poetry evokes the images of a troubled people presently struggling towards freedom and the twenty-first century, yet holding on to concepts and values from an historic past. Slaughter's poetry is at once simple and profound, and most of all memorable. The Politics Of My Heart is a highly recommended addition to the library poetry shelf. -- Midwest Book Review
