the bird of nothing

& other poems

Saíz' first full-length poetry collection gathers short and

long poems, fragments, epigrams. the bird of nothing

& other poems presents an absolutely unique poetry of

stunning power and complexity. The collection includes the 100-page poem "the bird of nothing," where saíz takes up the caesura, silence, death & eros, earth & sky, and the night; "the book of pronouns," (five haunting, introspective poems on life-death); and the classic "malinche." Other lyrics, fragments, aphorisms and prose poems testify to the poet's rich and complex Southwestern heritage.

". . . the great eclipse is the 'ECLIPSE OF THE SUN'. . . obliquely denouncing the erasure (by deadly writing) of a whole native American culture, which the poem feels so movingly powerless to reinscribe. . . the epic of American consciousness made problematical. . . . Like Leaves of Grass and its 'America,' 'The Bird of Nothing' encompasses much more than itself. But while the ambition of Whitman's poem was to translate a whole nation into the whole world, saíz' exacting poem is an American poem that chooses to have no nation, or borders of any kind, for that matter. . . . An exquisitely fragmentary meditation that self-reflectively breaks in upon the ordered course of human life as it has been conceived of and written down in the western tradition."

- Maria Irene Ramalho de Sousa Santos, Prof. of American Literature, Coimbra U., Portugal

". . .this beautifully produced book is an accessible hymnal to nature. . . All students of Hispanic American literature and American Southwestern poetry must order it."

- Glenna Luschei, Café Solo

"At the heart of Aztec theology there is a fundamental sense of emptiness/non-being, and that is what the bird of nothing is all about: "all is close but nothing arrives. . . lost in the night. . . the last night open to the light / something is uttered there / under the fatal blow of the day / the impossible night is nearing.' " - Hugh Fox, The Glass Cherry

Illustrated; sewn & wrapped in Teton Clay paper cover; 7" X 10"; 168 pages

ISBN: 0-941160-11-4 (regular edition)

ISBN: 0-941160-16-5 (limited edition of 50 signed & numbered by the poet)

Books may be ordered directly from the press, or through any major book jobber or through Amazon.com. Billing to libraries only. Please inquire about costs though irmarkha@students.wisc.edu

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