Suits For the Swarm

Matt Gano, whose swagger and soul and verbal dexterity have knocked out spoken-word audiences for years, brings his staggering inventiveness to the page-where he also, and absolutely, belongs. Here are irresistible scenes out of the sagebrush and empty lots of a charmed and timeless boyhood; love from all sides-wild-horse young, and 94 years old; and the moon: brilliant, unexpected, new, ‘with … lemon-meringue peaks/ and eating-contest complexion.’ These are beautifully-crafted poems, alive with startling transitions, humor, and the wisdom that lets ‘the rhythm in the ride be what I write.’ And they’re pure pleasure. Kathleen Flenniken, Washington State Poet Laureate, author of Plume and Famous