“Chronic”

Sensuality and fierceness thrive in D.A. Powell’s collection of poems, “Chronic,” published by Graywolf Press. “Clipped of capitals, broken apart by extra spacing, his lines detonate like land mines,” writes the Los Angeles Times. Love and longing are strong and harrowing presences in Powell’s poems. His words spring up in the shadow of AIDS, giving the love he describes a particular edge and darkness. “Illness and love are similar, these poems remind us, in their chronic nature,” continues the LA Times. Powell’s poetry contains the spiritual and the fleshy, the longing and the fulfillment. In a climate dominated by the debate of what form of love is appropriate, Powell celebrates queer desire. “Nothing—least of all life and love—lasts forever, or even very long,” Powell says. But he leans hard on one consolation: “From pain comes poetry,” summarizes Time Out New York. The suppleness and hard truths of Powell’s lines ensure that his poetic interpretations will survive, even if the love doesn’t.