Atsuro Riley Heard-Hoard

Recognized for his &;wildly original&; poetry and his &;uncanny and unparalleled ability to blend lyric and narrative,&; Atsuro Riley deepens here his uncommon mastery and tang. In Heard-Hoard, Riley has &;razor-exacted&; and &;raw-wired&; an absorbing new sequence of poems, a vivid weavework rendering an American place and its people. At once an album of tales, a portrait gallery, and a soundscape; an &;inscritched&; dirt-mural and hymnbook, Heard-Hoard encompasses a chorus of voices shot through with (mostly human) histories and mysteries, their &;old appetites as chronic as tides.&; From the crackling story-man calling us together in the primal circle to Tammy figuring &;time and time that yonder oak,&; this collection is a profound evocation of lives and loss and lore.