Cephalopodic rather than bringing closure or

rather than bringing closure or relief at a poem’s end

Poetry Center San Jose

These stark

yet cautions us not to fly too close to the sun

Chekhov…and Job

Cephalopodic rather than bringing closure orNothing is more anticipated, more fraught, more loaded, more parodied, more remembered, or more desired than a love poem. In this bold new collection, J. P. Dancing Bear manages, rather remarkably, to evoke and invoke some of the great romantic gestures of poetic history while simultaneously charting entirely new poetic territory. At one moment, his rich aquatic imagery recalls Walt Whitman or Pablo Neruda while at other times his voice feels utterly