Synopses & Reviews
In the poems and linked sequences of his thirty-fifth book, Jonas
Zdanys transforms the landscapes he sees, imagines and remembers into
new metaphorical configurations and image-patterns, all shaped by his
sense of the pervasive and inescapable oneness of the things of the
world. Through those transformations he creates a personal landscape in
these pages, a meditative place where he is able to "tie up loose
ends, understand the laws/of the universe, feel the ecstasy/that
radiates from the tips of the fingers." But Zdanys does more than
shape the luminous phenomena around him. His essential procedure in
these poems is to reconquer the real, using unusual figurative
constructs, varied forms and expressions, metaphoric eruptions, and
recurring reformulated images to do so. The result is a framework of
evocations, memories, mysterious suggestions, and ineffable presences
that enables him to define the elemental world, that "imaginary
country" ringed by flowers of salt, where "time is the only
durable flesh/and lovers flow together like water." These are
engaging and complex poems, carefully chiseled personal and artistic
self-evaluations that seek to unite body and spirit, along the way
providing a glimpse of the infinite and ending on a note of inspiration
and hope. A bilingual, award-winning poet and translator, Zdanys serves
as Chief Academic Officer for the State of Connecticut.