Unintended Empire

Poetry. "Hi, Buck Downs would like to add you to his human network. This writing is wishing you will be here. A kind of private reception beyond the book space. Measured in the poem-postcard's shade, there is no such thing as a stranger. The Downs style collagist jam is broad and informal. It's as if a French poet took genuine American melted TV glass and threw it off the DC Bridge. Or his grandmother noticed how much he loved music, so she traded one of her milk cows for a neighbor's piano. Or the rhythms, carbonated and jubilant, rustle along. What a fine collection."--Melanie Neilson "Whenever one of Buck's postcard poems arrives in the mail, I get so excited. I can't think of another poet who shares his work this way, and our days are better for it. That is the way I think about Buck's poetry: we are all in a better place because of his writing. Not that he deep-sixes problems or glosses over troubles. Buck has the ability to write about tough stuff by opening up possibilities instead of banging us on the head with a down-a-tude. As a poet-for-life, Buck is both an inspiration and a ton-of-fun."--Tina Darragh "These poems remind us that every day is a really good day ... except for the ones that aren't."--Doug Lang