The Markov Chain

<p>“When Basil Bunting declared that “Pens are too light. / Take a chisel to write” I imagine he had in mind the kind of exact and exacting poetry Ted Pearson has been steadily producing for decades. In <em>The Markov Chain</em> Pearson presents a series of eight-line poems each composed of four exquisitely crafted alexandrines: “These formal restrictions // are like benedictions . . . Constraints lead to freedoms // exceeding predictions.” Raising the ante Pearson uses these formal constraints to probe the social constraints contemporary culture imposes on art and life. “When the People say we // they don’t mean you and me. / The consensus they’re seeking // will set no one free.” This double take on constraints creates an animating tension throughout the book one in which “The gist of the lyric // tells a whole other tale.” Pearson’s chiseled poems enact a deep investigation into language that at once revels in and questions its own constraints. Follow at your own pace but Pearson’s ear as always won’t lead you astray.”   —Paul Naylor</p>