Abandoned Angel

Poetry. The pared-down and essentialized poems in ABANDONED ANGEL show Kimmelman's further explorations of the procedural dynamic in syllabic forms. "By way of a precise and pared-down language these poems artfully render a physical world while simultaneously serving as objects to be engaged for the contemplation of such a world. The poet not only situates us in the spaces of particular 'Weather' but also opens us to the poignancy of the passage of time against the...
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Poetry. The pared-down and essentialized poems in ABANDONED ANGEL show Kimmelman's further explorations of the procedural dynamic in syllabic forms.

"By way of a precise and pared-down language these poems artfully render a physical world while simultaneously serving as objects to be engaged for the contemplation of such a world. The poet not only situates us in the spaces of particular 'Weather' but also opens us to the poignancy of the passage of time against the vibrations of various 'Cities.' And in the latter case what might at first seem to be simple narrative progressions can often startlingly make manifest deeply heartfelt human illuminations. Kimmelman is obviously a master of his chosen strategies in both cases."--Hugh Seidman

"That every shadow of wonder can stand forth in the most familiar words is the gift this poet offers his readers time and again."--Susan Howe

"A strict & powerful accounting, leaving me... filled with admiration & hooked on every word."--Jerome Rothenberg

"A rare evocation... the wonder of this world in itself."—Robert Creeley

"Form calls deeply to form, as though the works... lifted one to the very brim of language."--Michael Heller

"He finds what is luminously transcendent."--Harvey Shapiro

"Artful, fastidious, learned... I am delighted by so much feeling for style."--Alfred Kazin

"Few contemporary poets so gracefully demonstrate classic notions of what the practice of poetry must be."--Madeline Tiger, Jacket

"Kimmelman creates himself through effacement, humility, and the expression of the joy and terror of being alive... a testament to the idea that self is not created by personal expression alone."--Hasanthika Sirisena, American Book Review

"Kimmelman's poems attest to the simple majesties of being, the massive implications of the everyday."--Eric Hoffman, Rain Taxi

"Burt Kimmelman wears his education and his influences like a loose garment. In a noisy world, he remains a poet speaking softly and directly to his audience, inviting us to join him in his perambulations about the various cities and their weather."--M.G. Stephens, Rain Taxi