March 18th, 2003

by Michael Lally

Poetry. Michael Lally's book-length poem MARCH 18, 2003,the first publication of Libellum Books, uses vernacular and emotion toturn the tables on the power-mongers who think they control something real.They cause real death and suffering, but their power is illusory. Written for " Poets Against The War," a reading at Paula Cooper Gallery, Lally's poem is an indictment of all that is sour in American politics and a way of life that has gone seriously astray. Lally achieves this tour de force in his inimitable style, which is by turns wry, sardonic, heartbreaking, and ultimately sees a way out. "This poem moves in areas that are nearly overwhelming for the imagination and memory"—Clayton Eshleman. Cover by Alex Katz.

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Greg Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long poem written for the occasion of an anti-war event, the poem unfolds as a dialog with the reader as Lally's brain brings his rapid-moving thoughts to enunciation. I always enjoy the poet's streaming dialog. He writes the way an action painter disperses paint or a jazz musician improvises a solo building toward a cohesive resolution. If not always an answered prayer for a finite solution, the time spent reading is companionable and pleasurable for its momentum and entreaty to make sense.