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Prismatica: Science Fiction Poetry Spanning the Spectrum
Prismatica Science Fiction Poetry Spanning the Spectrum Author:Elizabeth Barrette This collection highlights Elizabeth's work, holding it up to the light from multiple angles. It proves her a master of form, from the common ballad and well-known sonnet to the intricate villanelle and deceptively simple prose poem. It demonstrates her mastery of imagery, like the chaplain in "The Poltergeist of Polaris," who says, "My ros... more »ary of habitable planets / Clacked around my spacesuit, / Spiral galaxy dangling from / The end." You will find here all the classic tropes science fiction: If this goes on, in "Countdown"; if only we could, in "A Spacer's Lullaby"; and yes, we will, in "Judas Rising." You will also find the universal themes of literature: the indomitable will, in "Resolutions"; love of money is the root of all evil, in "The String of Beads"; and love, showing different aspects in "Star Orphan" and "Not For Me." Each poem in this collection can stand alone. But they also seem, at times, to be paired - sometimes next to each other, sometimes separated by distance but entangled like paired quarks, where reading one changes the meaning of another. Some of the pairs the I found include "Space Evaders" and "The Clasping Of Hands," "Flying With Old Friends" and "Uprising," and "What Radiant Light" and "Theoretical Properties." I have no doubt that you will find different pairs, because the observation depends as much upon the observer as upon the observed. -Janet D. Miles, CPS/CAP« less