Facts + Figures

by Rob Carney

Poetry. There's a lunatic logic at work in these poems, from the opening section of thirteen facts to the final pages inspired by Christopher Smart, the 18th-century poet locked away in an asylum with his cat. Here, astrophysics becomes an empathy lesson, spelling lessons give way to magic, and the best healing witch in Louisiana shares the stage with orcas and a hermit crab. Add to that a math exam that doesn't add up, and if/then conditionals that add up strangely; plus, the worst fire in Spokane, Washington, and the origin story of owls. Facts and Figures is saner than a calendar. Calendars have twelve months, but the year--like this book--has thirteen moons.

91 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2020

Reviews

[Jeff]

This new(er) collection of poems from Rob Carney is more playful than The Book of Sharks, which was one of the best poetry volumes that I read in 2020. As in the prior volume, Carney's voice is clear and uncomplicated, as demonstrated by "Eight Things I Know About Galileo", one of my favorite works in Facts + Figures:

To be a sculptor made better sense
in a world that didn't want science,

in a world that liked things fixed
and held them fixed.

Except wars.
The occasional volcano.

The smaller eruptions of flame and smoke
when the need arouse to cure a heretic.

Another favorite poem in this collection, "Thirteen Moons" is a wonderful demonstration of Carney's ability to weave dreams, mythology, and the human experience of the natural world into beautiful lyrics that inspire the reader to reflection and meditation.

Facts + Figures is quite a different experience than The Book of Sharks, and lacks the unified narrative that made that volume so powerful. Nonetheless, Carney remains a deeply impressive poet, confident enough to avoid obscurity while crafting verses that manage to penetrate the white noise of our lives with strains of beauty that we are so in need of.

[Amy]

My review of Rob Carney's Facts + Figures in 15-Bytes magazine.