Further Adventures in Monochrome

Chinese American poet/critic Yau, whose many titles include National Poetry Series winner Corpse and Mirror, here shows that poetry can tackle sociological issues while making language fresh. The poet assumes that with imagination giving daily experience meaning and beauty, a single chronicled reality can bring forth others, and his poems vividly record this act of becoming: "I am interested in what is, and what is not/ I try to find a way from one to another/ I don't like any, least of all mine." The often short, fragmented lines and crafty distribution of space give the poems a dynamic feel; some poems blend surrealism and parody so that past and present narrate each other. A dominant theme is identity, particularly exiled or marginalized identity, which Yau explores through the clever deployment of Asian symbols, as in the series poem "Genghis Chan: Privet Eye."