Dennis
Etzel is one of the most exuberant poets I know. His readings are enhanced by his
genuine love of
words/poetry/just causes/people. His partnership with wife
Carrie as they raise 5 young sons is admirable. His awareness as a man raised
by two lesbian mothers carries over into his life and his writings. He is an
admirable human being, which is one aspect of him; he is also an admirable
poet. Yes, he is a friend, so qualify my review in those terms.
His new
book from Spartan Press is This Removed
Utopia: Poems. Yes, that is John Brown on the cover, the odd iconic activist saint of Kansas, from the state capitol building's murals by John Stuart Curry. This panel is entitled Tragic Prelude, apt for the book. Etzel has a fluid, unpretentious style that moves, engages the
reader, and ess-turns into unexpected alleyways and cupolas. Domestic moments
transform into regional awareness into history into rage against corporate
machines. The book has six poems, including the long poem “A Short History of
Topeka,” which includes this section, and the “Sam” is governor and former
senator Sam Brownback:
Even
Topeka has the pleasure of lawn and trees
outside
of the mall’s obvious entrances, a carefree
winking
after paid-off early retirements
help
corporations in they syrupy blurs. Accept
that
speed walking which hammers gerunds
into
our language, promising the assertive
round
of elegies. How does the need to claim
on your
right feel to Kansas politics, the words
you
use, your cushioned lips, those kisses
you
tell? Do I need to mention Sam
in the
midst of this ruin built decades ago?
Let the
sun come through the dome window,
let the
window resign to the floor, let hammers
be
heard, unseen for comfort to our particles.
For a signed copy of This Removed Utopia, please use this link. Shipping
and taxes included.
Dennis Etzel Jr. lives with Carrie and the boys in Topeka, Kansas where he teaches English at Washburn University. He has an MFA from The University of Kansas, and an MA and Graduate Certificate in Women and Gender Studies from Kansas State University. My Secret Wars of 1984 (BlazeVOX 2015) was selected by The Kansas City Star as a Best Poetry Book of 2015. Fast-Food Sonnets (Coal City Review Press 2016) is a 2017 Kansas Notables Book selected by the State of Kansas Library. This Removed Utopia (Spartan Press 2017) was published as part of the Kaw Valley Poetry Series. My Grunge of 1991 is forthcoming (BlazeVOX 2017). He has two chapbooks, The Sum of Two Mothers (ELJ Publications 2013) and My Graphic Novel (Kattywompus Press 2015). His work has appeared in Denver Quarterly, Indiana Review, BlazeVOX, Fact-Simile, 1913: a journal of poetic forms, 3:AM, Tarpaulin Sky, DIAGRAM, and others. He is a TALK Scholar for the Kansas Humanities Council and leads poetry workshops in various Kansas spaces. Please feel free to connect with him at dennisetzeljr.com.
Photo of Dennis Etzel at the Raven Bookstore by Denise Low
