Chickamauga

This volume Wright''s eleventh book of poetry is a vivid contemplative far-reaching yet wholly plain-spoken collection of moments appearing as lenses through which to see the world beyond our moments. Chickamauga is also a virtuoso exploration of the power of concision in lyric poetry--a testament to the flexible music of the long line Wright has made his own. As a reviewer in Library Journal noted: Wright is one of those rare and gifted poets who can turn thought into music. Following his self-prescribed regimen of purgatio illuminato and contemplatio Wright spins one lovely lyric after another on such elemental subjects as sky trees birds months and seasons. But the real subject is the thinking process itself and the mysterious alchemy of language: ''The world is a language we never quite understand.''