Customer Reviews

The Sri Lankan Loxodrome (New Directions Paperbook)

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Alexander's book, and in particular its title poem - a seventy page dramatic monologue - is a singular achievement by a singular poet. It deeply excites and inspires. I'm certain I'll re-read it again and again, from here on out, for as close to forever as I can get.

"The Sri Lankan Loxodrome," the title poem that closes the book, is in the voice of Loxodrome, a lone Sri Lankan who sails the Indian Ocean on a trawler, on a self-initiated mission to catch and de-poison sea snakes. A ghost or apparition named Gianini tries to undercut Loxodrome's efforts, mostly via whispered accusations.

An unusual poetic premise, you say? Well, it is, and that's not the half of it.

For a more detailed view, put the title of this book The Sri Lankan Loxodrome, and the word "glade," in a Blogger-friendly search engine, if you know what I mean and I think you do. But I'll say here that Alexander's poem explores a super-imaginative energy and spirit that remains vigorous and unyielding in a world with values, ways, systems, and people almost entirely opposed to it, and which at almost every turn seeks to subvert it. The affirmation of the persistence of the free radical mind and spirit, in a world antithetical to its existence, is a tour de force of energy and language.