Whatever you think you know about Heller Levinson, guess again. Levinson's latest book,
The Abyssal Recitations, not only requires the suspension of your disbelief, but also requires a complete reorganization of your sensibility. Hallmark and/or AI rubbish does not live here. Look at his poem "Abyssal Reminiscence" in its entirety:
shortfall evanescent repeal
reel pitch flinch
grate grill cultivate
sow sew stitch
foamcoalesce
surface
From beginning to end,
Abyssal Recitations reads this way. The best way to enjoy these poems is to forget how you've been taught poetry should read and focus intently upon the relationships that Heller's lexicon creates, especially the vibrations of sounds and senses his words generate. To apprehend the following lines requires readers to actually experience the poet's linguistic vibrations as they rattle neurons from their slumber:
verbs incinerate incline grief vowels wish you
were here twine thickens straits thru mewling
chaw wipe bibelot courtesies in the company
of balance thistle thrush threshold thicket
cymbal clunk cadaver slaver skins thins ("Abyssal Abject").
Concrete Mist Press is known for supporting some of the most unique poetry around today, and Heller Levinson surely belongs on this list of fresh voices. Pour yourself a glass of wine, if you like, but hunker down some place where the nonsense of the world isn't too much with you and feel those neurons rattle like the tail of a Southeastern Diamondback.
Alan Britt, author
Gunpowder for Single-ball PoemsTowson University
