Manyebook

PAIN: The Board Game

I am of my times and you screengrab out of ancient nowhere, the title of one of the poems in Starkweather's second collection, PAIN: The Board Game, perfectly capture both his utter contemporariness and his empathetic treatment of our most primal conditions: "dis- / appointment / & misery / & helplessness / & suffering / & pain / & fear."

As he deploys the #trending and vintage lexicons of technology and pop culture with the depth and ease of a true lyricist, Starkweather pushes his poems into the territory of universal affect and risky humanity, to the root of our desire to connect. This is the contemporary poem that, just after it has "Shazamed / your orgasm" resurrects "the rough magic / of bodies / illuminating / the lack / of any / limitation / when one." Starkweather's unyielding, funny, luminous poetry is a brand new classic.

Also includes 15 color illustrations by artist Jon-Michael Frank.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 160
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9780991336128
  • Genres
  • poetry
  • Release date
  • 2015