Divine blue light (for John Coltrane)

Will Alexander

Book - 2022

"Divine Blue Light is anchored by three major works: the opening 'Condoned to Disappearance,' a meditation on the heteronymic exploits of Portuguese modernist Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), the closing 'Imprecation as Mirage,' a poem channeling an apparently real Indonesian man, Taroon Kampoor, whose name spontaneously appeared in the poet's mind, and the title poem, an anthemic ode to the deconstructive maximalism of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane (1926-1967). Other key pieces include 'Accessing Gertrude Bell,' a critique of its titular subject (1868-1926), one of the architects of British Middle East policy and designers of the modern state of Iraq, 'Deficits: Chaïm Soutine & Joan Miró,...9; in homage to two Jewish artists forced to flee the Nazi Invasion of France, and 'According to Stellar Scale,' a compact lyric brought to and read in orbital space by astronaut Sian Proctor on the 2021 Inspiration4 mission. A kinetic explosion of language that emanates from the intersection between surrealism and afro-futurism, where Césaire meets Sun Ra, Divine Blue Light further affirms Alexander's status as one of the most unique and important voices in contemporary poetry, as well as highlighting his connection to his Pocket Poet predecessors and inspirations, Philip Lamantia and Bob Kaufman"-- more