Tom Holmes

Henri, Sophie, & the Hieratic Head of Ezra Pound: Poems Blasted from the Vortex Tom Holmes

Poetry. Part history, part aesthetic statement, part obsession, HENRI, SOPHIE, & THE HIERATIC HEAD OF EZRA POUND: POEMS BLASTED FROM THE VORTEX is, most of all, a lyrical exploration of life lived like the sharp cut of a chisel through marble. Henri Gaudier-Brzeska knew that blade hewing stone could reveal energy, that art was controlled energy; Holmes' poetry--sharply chiseled--both maintains the formal precision of a cut through rock and the passionate intensity of the lives it follows--simply, these poems allow us to see that Henri and Sophie lived in the intense heat of lives blasted out of an important historical moment. This is no small accomplishment. Pound wrote, 'Only emotion endures.' Holmes has written of a compelling story in a fine collection of poetry that shows Pound's assertion to be accurate--Tod Marshall, author of THE TANGLED LINE and Dare Say.