Sanskrit of the Body

In this mesmerizing debut collection, chosen by Mary Oliver for the National Poetry Series, W.B. Keckler crafts an expansive travelogue of the human spirit that moves thoughtfully through multiple ages, cultures, and beings. Each poem explores in depth, through pensive, evocative images, aspects of the human condition and their place within the rich continuum of animal existence. Keckler presents these poems in a fugal form, uniting the individual works in what… (plus)

In this mesmerizing debut collection, chosen by Mary Oliver for the National Poetry Series, W.B. Keckler crafts an expansive travelogue of the human spirit that moves thoughtfully through multiple ages, cultures, and beings. Each poem explores in depth, through pensive, evocative images, aspects of the human condition and their place within the rich continuum of animal existence. Keckler presents these poems in a fugal form, uniting the individual works in what he describes as a "holistic formalism" that reveals the poems' powerful collective meaning. Lives and afterlives are explored with equal care as Keckler attempts to restore the concept of "spirit" in a modern world often overwhelmed by materialistic priorities.