Spirit Spout

<p>Devon Balwit's <em>Spirit Spout</em> - a poetic vision directly engaging with Melville's <em>Moby-Dick; or The Whale</em> - is an eschatological tour de force. The poet practices an intertextual jouissance showcasing singular gifts for sound and image. We encounter the thrown gauntlet // the poking prod of the devil's own advocate; there is salt wind brine and ocean; Melville as god as demon; Melville in the throes of creation and also grieving. Ishmael Ahab and Queequeg beckon. Both travelogue and existential reckoning with life there is a painterly attention to the physical to the body; there is a grappling with sociology and philosophy: Our thinking // always butting up against the ribs / of the paradigms we travel in. Balwit's powers are on full display - this book's spirit is deep and wide. - <strong>Charles Kell</strong> author of <em>Ishmael Mask</em></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>