Playing Poker with Tennessee Wiliams

I have been reading Kevin Pilkington’s marvelous poems with delight and admiration for over three decades. Pilkington is one of those poets whose memorable phrasings and turns of thought travel from the streets of New York City to come to lodge in this reader’s brain. He is a keen observer always on the edge of the man-made and natural worlds with his quietly arresting images and imagination: “I wanted the tree to play one/of those old standards by Mercer/or Van Heusen, something soft with/ a melody that sounds like a bandage.” He is also a poet of great heart. And human dignity. Playing Poker With Tennessee Williams is a must-read by a poet at the height of his powers.

-Stuart Dischell