Ism is a Retrovirus by Matthew Hupert, late 70’s?. In the section of this poetry collection titled Ars Poetica, Matthew gives his 10 Top Tips – For Poets. Among them is the warning, “If all your poems sound/ the same you/’ve only written one poem.” No danger of that in this work where every poem sounds very different, sometimes harking back to old forms (like the sonnet and the sestina), sometimes incorporating experimental echoes of rap and jazz, and sometimes just speaking in a brand new tongue. Columbus Circe sings and roams like Whitman. Terse aphorisms meet up with rambling stream of consciousness. Last lines sometimes punch out at you, sending up the preceding setup with hilarity. His subject matter evokes a new look at contemporary masculinity. Loss evolves from raw pain to poetry. Playfulness and surprise await you in this collection.
