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JUSTIN, ETC.
The Book & Reviews
Other Poets on Justin Etc.'s Self-Portrait of the Poet Suicided by the MFA Degree
(Gorilla Press, 2014):
Desuetude means the condition of not being in use, and Zukofsky said that the goal of a poem is to “achieve perfect rest.” Yet we all know how incredibly active poetry can be, phrase by phrase. Such is the poetry of Justin Etc., pruned to such a perfect excess, we would never want anything less: “the surveillance & subtraction of shock-white blossoms / electrocuted w/ AM Gold bourbon / abulia, swimming pools, & sacred bone shard reverb.” A brilliant observer of American culture, he is a true connoisseur of our chaos: “her heart is a DeLorean w/ its doors swept up into the aortal allure.”
PAUL HOOVER, AUTHOR OF DESOLATION: SOUVENIR
There’s checking for range of motion, as when an obstetrician manipulates the arms and legs of a newborn to look for full movement potential, and then there’s finding range of motion in Justin Etc.’s new poetry collection, witnessing a flexibility of the imagination that blows the poetic range chart to bits. These poems do not stay put nor stay tethered to safe and sane poetic themes. They bust any tether that threatens to tie them down and shows us what can happen when a poet has the mind and guts to create poetry “imbued with w subtle heartbeat and the wherewithal to write.” This is a terrific first collection of poetry that moves.
TONI MIROSEVICH, AUTHOR OF THE TAKEAWAY BIN
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