Amassunu

Poetry is often mentioned as a vehicle for a poet’s exploration of his or her own life. Eric Quinn has taken this motif and run with it: born in Brazil, he offers memories of infancy and titles his book with the amerindian word for the Amazon River; raised in Latin America and Europe, he writes of being a child and watching Quetzal birds feed or travelling though a land of witches; living on the eastern seaboard of the United States as an adult, he includes haiku about shoveling snow or struggling with a winter flu. The poet’s sharp concern with political events is captured in such poems as “Jewelry and the Blacksmith,” which contains his reflections on the events and aftermath of 9/11. His abiding interest in the process of poetry is the inspiration for “A Poet’s Truth.” And his love of history lies behind “The Reason of Cities.” Finally, there is an extended excerpt from his version of the Epic of Gilgamesh.