The Armpit of Desire

<I>The Armpit of Desire</I> explores internal and external realities with desire as the backdrop and central reference for the human condition. Siders can lure you in with a conversational rapid-fire delivery but then subdue you with a confident and reflective if not suggestive voice. He is quick to turn a phrase yet control is maintained throughout but just barely and you get a sense that there's always a degree of risk-an idea or emotion taken too far-but he pulls it off at every turn almost to your surprise. </P><P>Siders reveals his versatility in some of the standouts in this collection including 'The Right Light 'After Before 'Offering 'Last New Look 'Wet Paint and the title poem. Perhaps the most provocative clever and stylistically risky poem is '5 Cracks whose unforgettable personalities evoke a sense of both bravado and surrender. </P><P>The appeal of this collection is its inclusiveness its glimpse into the various guises of desire its unapologetic insistence that 'we step over our usual / ten-dollar worn-out excuses trip over / the unknowable and pretend / we understand the reasons / for our disillusionment. </P>