{"product_id":"9780997262902","title":"CAFÉ SELECT","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Truth, a dominatrix\/asserting love is all...” W.M. Rivera writes in “Prelude,” one\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof the opening poems in the book you are holding. Truth can be pleasurable, and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epainful all at the same time, like love and sex. This exploration of truth and love as\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edouble edged sword runs through\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCafe Select.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRivera’s poems are lusty gems,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethere’s a fighting spirit, and a wise one at work in these poems, sometimes wrestling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewith itself, other times wrestling with the great spiritual chink in our armor, other\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epeople and their influence upon us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRivera kinks it up in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCafe\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e, and I’m not just talking about sado-masochistic sex, or\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea lusty young couple in heat, the lines of these poems screw into each other creating\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea dense tough lyricism that is coupled with gritty reality:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethese ‘sperm on the wing.’\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost won’t make it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSome end up in luxuriating in Rimbaud’s bathtub boat\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eon a pond in Tuileries Gardens. Some labor\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egrowing pains on death-row’s dry concrete.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn suburbia most land on fertile ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven the run-amucks multiply in manicured cracks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRivera’s describing dandelions seeding into air in “Manicured Cracks,” how most\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewon’t make it, that the seeds of the weed, the most iconic of spring youth images,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efaces a fate like all of us. They might live on to flower again, or they won’t. As human\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecounterparts, many of us will die along the way, and often the worst of us, the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eweeds, thrive. What I like is the music in Rivera’s poems. The alliterative urge, the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehard consonant sounds, very much like later Seamus Heaney, acting like sharp\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eedges to confine and crib the lines and feet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePoetry and art are created by privilege, and these poems are unabashed at their\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emodernist raiment made possible by a privileged life. Paris is both the geographical\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand figurative heart of the book. Paris, the literal city, and Paris the epitome of cul-\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eture. Rivera is at home on both fronts, and relies on music to drive his poetry for-\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eward; the imagery, well that’s extra sauce for the pudding, and whether he’s\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ereferring to the city of lights, to art in a gallery, or to ancient Occidental poem, it\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edoesn’t matter. For Rivera their origins are the same. The urge to create, to be re-\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eborn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Poets Choice Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50076059795696,"sku":"9780997262902","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780997262902_p0.jpg?v=1784741428","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780997262902","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}