These poems come from a set of about 20, which has undergone a variety of titles—“Experiments with Air,” “Illuminations” (after Rimbaud’s), and “Spiritual Exercises.” At this point I don’t care what they are called as long as nobody tags them as “concrete poetry.” I abhor the term. There’s nothing concrete about them; they’re made out of letters—not little groups of triangles, circles, and marks that architects use to represent concrete on their blueprints which no longer are printed or blue.
Mark Yakich’s most recent collection is The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in Ukraine (Penguin, 2008). He teaches at Loyola University New Orleans and edits New Orleans Review.