This is a book where the most exciting hovers on the margin-what is said is thrilling, but even more thrilling is what goes unsaid.ĭrasler’s paintings are most often of interiors, usually with hideous wallpaper, or distressing asymmetries and details. Charles Altieri describes this quality in Liu’s work as being enthymematic, as being arguments with unstated premises or confusions. A narrative feels about to emerge, but it never quite does, though confusion or disorientation is in itself satisfying as an effect. The emotional resonance is clear, but the plot is shrouded. The poems and paintings share a kind of film still aesthetic, where you have just enough information to know that something is wrong. Liu’s poems are placed alongside the paintings of Greg Drasler.
This volume is the latest installment of the Saturnalia series of poet/artist collaborations.
Turning to Polythegamy, we find Liu writing almost exclusively about marriage, sex, and god(s), which the title might have suggested.
