Cooley, D: Abecedarium

would you believe me when i make

consorts of alphabet

runaways & stayathomes i have rounded

up where they wandered

all over the page

Dennis Cooley masterfully extends the genre of the abecedary to explore his curiosity of the limitlessness of human communication. With linguistic wit and complexity, his poetry carries the reader through the historical developments of the alphabet. He pries open letters and words to play with both their immediate meaning and the possibilities within the words themselves, creating surprises as he explores spelling, sound, syntax, and pronunciation. After reading Cooley's abecedarium you'll never look at language the same way. Lovers of experimental poetry as well as those interested in linguistic play or the history of language will relish the rapid-fire shifts and musicality of Cooley's newest collection of poetry.