Rain Mirror: New Poems (Paperback)

by Michael McClure (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
In McClures latest, two long poems (Haiku Edge and Crisis Blossom) comprise one surprisingly unified volume that succeeds in conveying both the rhythms and the terrors of ordinary life. McClure has a profoundly Eastern consciousness and displays a Zen-like affinity for simplicity and white space, a proclivity reflected most obviously in the visual arrangement of his verse into short lines centered on the page and having a sharp vertical thrust. Haiku Edge, a seemingly random construction of haiku, portrays the disparate elements and experiences of life in McClures hometown of Oakland (Calif.). Although the pieces all display the impressionism and narrative restraint typical of the haiku form (MAROON / suitcase / by / a / garbage can. / My / white / breath / in / air.), taken together they form a kind of mosaic of the daily world, at once sharply patterned and unobtrusive. Crisis Blossom, written in very similar style, nevertheless presents almost a mirror image of the world of Haiku Edge. Its a sharply interior collection of three works written in the aftermath of an airplane crash that nearly caused the authors death. Narrating the experience from the unexamined peace of take-off (Smell of greasy food / in the airport) to the final peace of recovery (SPRING BEAUTY / THANKSGIVING / THANKS GIVING / GIVING THANKS), the poetry follows a familiar Dante-esque route from tragedy to rebirth. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"Michael McClure shares a place with the great William Blake, with the visionary Shelley, with the passionate D. H. Lawrence." -- Robert Creeley

After Meltdown
Before Dawn
Big Round
Big
The Big
The Blue-black Jay
Brass
Bud
Bud
The Butterfly
The Calico
Cold Slap Of Waves On The Rock
Drops
The Dusty
Flower (1)
Flower (2)
Flower (3)
Flower (4)
Flower (5)
Flower (6)
For Bruce Conner
For Jack And Adelle
For James Broughton
For Norma
For Robin And Richard
The Fox Turd
Freeway
Give Way Or Be Smitten Into Nothingness And Everlasting Night
Grafting: 1
Grafting: 10
Grafting: 11
Grafting: 12
Grafting: 13
Grafting: 14
Grafting: 15
Grafting: 16
Grafting: 17
Grafting: 18
Grafting: 19
Grafting: 2
Grafting: 20
Grafting: 21
Grafting: 22
Grafting: 23
Grafting: 24
Grafting: 25
Grafting: 26
Grafting: 27
Grafting: 28
Grafting: 3
Grafting: 4
Grafting: 5
Grafting: 6
Grafting: 7
Grafting: 8
Grafting: 9
The Green
Haiku
Haiku
Haiku Of The Hunt
Haiku: For Harry
Haiku: For Monica
Here Songs Come Out
Hey Driver
Hey, It's All Consciousness
Huge White
Look There
Maroon
Mmm
Moldy Board
Monkey
Most
The Mystery
A November
Oh, Silver
Orion
A Pair
A Pine Tree
Pinecone
Pink Bandaid Stuck
Plum
The Roar
See Falling
See
Skull And Cross Bones
Smell Of Smoke
Sparkly Flies
Summer Hummingbird
There's Me
The Tiny Green-black Snake
Trees
Two Cats
Under The Fur
What Soft
Why Are
Wind Blows Waves
With A Gentle
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

McClure's work is about liberation--chiefly from the enslavement of one's own mind and spirit.... -- Richard Powell, Small Pond Magazine

Once he begins stripping away the layers of human skin and exposes his truer self, hard and raw, raw and vulnerable, you no longer are listening to music, but are moving through poetry. -- Louis Mckee, Painted Bird Quarterly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation; 1 edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811214265
• ISBN-13: 978-0811214261
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,381,664 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #5 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( M ) > McClure, Michael

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars from the dustjacket, January 3, 2000

By A Customer

" ... Michael McClure shares a place with the great William Blake, with the visionary Shelley, with the passionate D.H. Lawrence ... " - Robert Creeley

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious Gelatinous Seagiants, July 5, 2003

By	John David Locking (Brussel, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Mirrors of Inflections thru Sapphirous seven pieces of Jasperlik
e Facets thru Mysterious Gelatinous Seagiants of Good Lucifer's Anemoneworld of Aquariusesses' rotten bananaes thru hotspot of white collar corpses of Gelatinous Seagiants were mysterious lef
t alone where earthquakes shakens by burrowing mudgiants where ... ... ... ., ttyl