Guatemala and Other Poems

To order

In Guatemala and Other Poems, Brian Campbell takes us into a world of urban ciphers who rage and delight in their hysterically sharp-edged, homuncular condition; that of the wronged Jonah, who in his fury at his God finds clues of the ultimate conundrum of his existence; and into mid-1980’s Guatemala, where in a poignant and lyrical piece of poetic reportage Campbell reveals inner contradictions of that beautiful and tragic country.  All these forays are conducted with consummate assurance and poetic skill.

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THE PRICE OF GOLD

In the corner of the garden
the woman clutched herself.   She rocked.
Her sobs were a violent laughter.
All around her, almond trees bloomed.
Birds cheeped in a nest, somewhere high up.
On the other side of the garden wall
two men discussed the falling prices
of sugar, oats and gold.
Their voices were quite audible.

Comments:

In an age when so many poets seem preoccupied with describing what passes for their own navels, it is truly refreshing to read Brian Campbell… with knife-like irony, he cuts holes through the pretences and depravities of a civilization swept away by its own media-induced inertia…

— Jean-Pierre Pelletier, author of  L’Amnesique

Warning:  Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead) or to places or events is strictly intended and frighteningly accurate!  A guided tour (de force) in poetry from the steamy jungles of Guatemala to the ill-fated Jonah and back to our fragile selves.

— Rene Akstinas, poet/artist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE: OF TINYMEN, COLOSSI AND GUATEMALA
TINYMAN POEMS
This Page
Limbo
Shaft
A-Line
Debris
Snap Crackle Apocolypse
The Poem He Didn’t Write
Urban Mole
Tiny
The Price of Gold
His Accomplishment
Homunculus Ho Ho
Latin Scholar in the Woods
JONAH
GUATEMALA