The Tether: Poems

Graceful and resonant new work by a lyric poet at the height of his skill.. As I understand it I couldcall him. Though it would helpit is not required that I give hima name first. Also nothingsays he stops then or must turn.--from The Figure the Boundary the Light. In the art of falconry during training the tether between the gloved fist and the raptors anklets is gradually lengthened and eventually unnecessary. In these new lyric poems Carl Phillips considers the substance of connection -- between lover and beloved mind and body talon and perch -- and ts the cable of mutual trust between soaring figure and shadowed ground.. Contemporary literature can perhaps claim no poetry more clearly allegorical than that of Carl Phillips whose four collections have turned frequently to nature myth and history for illustration; still readers know the primary attributes of his work to be its physicality grace and disarming honesty about desire and faith. In The Tether his fifth book Phillipss characteristically cascading poetic line is leaner and more dramatic than ever.