In Charlottesville the other weekend, I had the pleasure of reading Rane Arroyo’s
The Roswell Poems published by WordFarm press.
The first question that popped into my mind was whether an answer of some kind would be given. Any fan of the X-Files will recall that the show was best when there was no answer. Mystery is sexy and intriguing.
Arroyo uses mystery to tease us through each poem, onto the next page, and onto the next poem. At the end, we’re left with a lot of questions and no easy answers.
I admire a work of art that does not attempt to tidy up a situation and that is brave enough to leave the reader questioning.
What’s unusual about this collection for a modern book is that none — and I mean ZERO — poems have been published before in magazines. Gasp! Convention has been slighted!
Arroyo declares that he wanted these poems to appear together; that was part of his artistic vision.
If you are looking for an intriguing read, visit the links above and read a sampling of poems on the WordFarm website.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for the generous but smart review of my book. I took 7 years to try to get it right, to indeed not listen to business as usual. Mystery is sexy (like X-Files’ Fox!). But more important to me is that you are willing to trust the poet to have a vision and it inspires me to take even greater risks as a poet. I love this book and other new works ahead about to be published. Please contact me for I do honestly know readers are not imaginary. Gracias, thank you for your hard work.
WordFarm up!