This book explores the idea that current poetry in some cases is so novel that it escapes the definition of "modern" poetry and exists in a parallel universe. What current body of work can be read in order to test this proposition? One could read Poetry, a cutting edge monthly magazine. Or, one could read poetry from a poet writing from an assumed different mental universe. The author here has chosen the latter course, attempting to write from a place parallel to where typically he toils.
The book explores the validity of the idea that current poetry is materially different from what we call "modern" poetry. It suggests the manner best suited to read the within poems. Finally, the author anecdotally explores sources of the concept of a parallel universe in film, fiction and as defined by science.
The concept derives from an exhibit mounted during summer 2023 at the Paris Museum of Modern Art. The curator maintained that the works of the nine represented artists had found a link to a different level of expression. The question presented to this author by that exhibit and its title "Parallel Worlds" was whether that proposition was a mere semantic exercise.
And, ultimately, this volume asks whether, underneath all theoretical analysis, these within poems are poetry worth reading-the ultimate test for any "poetry."
Stephen M. Honig is a practicing corporate attorney in Boston, Massachusetts. Author of five prior works of poetry, a collection of short stories and an adventure novel, he is a director of the New England Poetry Club, hosts poetry readings on behalf of the Club, is himself a reader of his poetry in various venues, and has often been published in Ibbetson Street (the poetry magazine of Ibbetson Press based in Somerville, Massachusetts). He has published five collections of poetry: "Messing Around with Words", "Rail Head", "Obligatory COVID Chapbook", "Laertes in America - Collected Poetry 2018-2020", and "Burn-Out". Also published are a collection of short stories: "Noir Ain't the Half of It", and a novel: "The Event". A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Mr. Honig lives with his wife, Laura Unflat, in Newton, Massachusetts. Among his four children and two grandchildren, only one shows a poetic avocation, although all six have poetic dispositions.
