In John Barr's poems, the ancient masters encounter the modern world.
Dante on a beach in China beholds the Inferno: Flaring well gas night and day, / towers rise as if to say, / Pollution can be beautiful.
Bach's final fugue informs all of nature.
Villon is admonished by an aging courtesan.
Aristotle finds Demagogues are the insects of politics.
/ Like water beetles they stay afloat / on surface tension, they taxi on iridescence.
And his afterlife: When three-headed Cerberus greeted him / Socrates replied: I won't need / an attack dog, thank you.
I married one.
| Inferno | Flaring well gas night and day towers rise as if to say |
|---|---|
| And his afterlife | When threeheaded |
| Socrates replied | I wont need an attack dog thank you |
Red Hen Press Dante in china, hardcover/john barr
