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December 17, 2024

It’s publication day for my strange little book!

Order a copy here.

Vessels was written during a time of disquiet, isolation, and absences, when each day was folded over on itself, false and empty. To keep working, Robert van Vliet challenged himself to build a ten-line poem each day that needed to include five words and a line or fragment from a book, all chosen randomly through chance operations. ¶ He knew that he was too swamped by the quotidian to allow himself to choose the words—they would be nothing but fear, mask, Covid, police, racist, murder, climate, rage… The chance operations allowed him to leave most of the decisions until the very moment he began composing. ¶ The result is a collection of three suites, each seeking a path beyond the polarity of either willfully ignoring the appalling spectacle of those pandemic years or being angrily transfixed by it. Three paths out of mute heartbreak and toward a third space of hope, presence, spirit.


Vessels

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Island A poem of mine, “Island,” has just appeared at Foofaraw Press. It’s been edited and revised somewhat over the years, but its roots are very old,
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Wahmanholm I am still astonished and humbled by the generous, acute attention Vessels received from its early readers, such as Claire Wahmanholm