That Fall

This is the fourth collection from this award-winning poet and his second title from the Irish publisher, Salmon. The "fall" of the title is really many falls. It is the season, of course, but also the runway approach of an airplane, the setting of the sun, the steady beat of rain, the fall from innocence, from health, from grace. Here too is the plunge of the Coney Island parachute ride, pratfall down steep stairs, descent into silence, madness, and sleep. These fifty-six poems display an extraordinary range of texture, tone, and subject matter, from passionate poems about childhood and AIDS to sardonic, surreal snapshots of our times.