An Aesthetic Toward Notes; On Poets & Poetry

In An Aesthetic Toward Notes: On Poets & Poetry, J.R. Solonche writes 609 snippets and aphorisms about poetry and the writing life, the good majority of them poetry disguised as prose. In one, he invokes the haiku writer who insists that a poem should be read three times, once silently, once as though to an emperor, and once as though to a small child. I feel, reading these pieces, like the lucky child who discovers a reverence for poetry for the first time. (Yes, the enterprise of writing is about reverence. In Chinese, the poet reminds us, the word “poem” “is made of the characters for word and temple.”) Come, enter Solonche’s temple of words, and be astonished back into wonder.

—Stephen Cramer

Winner of the National Poetry Series and the Louise Bogan Award

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An Aesthetic Toward Notes; On Poets & Poetry

Praise for J.R. Solonche