Hi.
He is a musician, a vegan, a poet, a teacher,
a collaborator.
Among these things, Philip Jenks is the owner
of some sweet blue shoes.
Philip Jenks's work has been described as strange, original,
terrifying.
A man concerned with connectivity, humanity,
boundaries, ethics, and words.
His second book, My First Painting Will Be
'The 'Accuser'-- which is a great title--
is formally tight.
Rhyme creates music.
Short but densely-packed lines, imaging, a soundscape we,
the reader, are entered into.
A prayer we mutter alongside the poems,
a crying out in their midst.
We are the accuser and the accused.
And yet, inside these strange, hauntingly beautiful poems,
we get the feeling that there is something else.
Some compassion, maybe.
Some kernel of grace.
We have a lot to learn from his pages, which also include
a book titled On The Cave You Live In,
and two chapbooks, The Elms Left Elm Street and How Many of You
Are You, and, most recently, Little Visceral
Carnival, a collaborative work with Simone Muench.
Please join me in welcoming Philip Jenks.
[APPLAUSE]