Black Achilles by Curtis L. Crisler

291 Replies

Black Achilles by Curtis L. Crisler

Black Achilles by Curtis L. Crisler is now available from the Accents store.

Damn … these poems are fiercely human, they call out the names of gods and demigods like reluctant lovers writhing in joy and in pain …

–Frank X Walker
Kentucky Poet Laureate,
Author of Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers

“Such a small wound, such a huge nuisance, death. In Black Achilles, Curtis L. Crisler takes the very human suffering of a torn tendon and uses it to explore our love affair with convenience, our ever-growing cloak of invulnerability, our pining for youth, immortality—how we unhinge at its loss. It is b-ball and score, the opposite of frustration/fragility &ellip; weakness. It is crutches and numbness, swagger and ‘what tender means.’ All this with a deft rim shot, a language of swerves and dunks, rebounds and alley-oops.”

-Leslie Anne Mcilroy,
Managing & Poetry Editor, HEArt,
and author of Slag (Main Street Rag)

“If Achilles is the mythologized Greek warrior-hero from the Trojan War, who is Black Achilles? Curtis L. Crisler’s collection of poems invites the reader to the freeways, playgrounds, and hospitals in search of Black Achilles. He is launching a stale jump shot, removing a stale bandage, limping on stale tendons. His legend is further cemented by his godly ability to ‘still hobble like monsters do’ on one leg. In the inner most soul of these poems, Black Achilles is the body deconstructed. We are moved to ask questions germane to the conversation between science and sport: what are the risks? Or, questions germane to science and ghetto: what are the risks? These poems are visceral; we are uncomfortable in the name of compassion. How do we celebrate the perfect imperfection of the body and its capacity to break? Crisler does this elegantly. The elegance and stable construction of these poems only add to the complex dimensions here. Black Achilles is another gift from a poet who’s gifted at giving.”

–Derrick Harriell,
author of Cotton and Ropes
(Aquarius Press/Willow Books)

ISBN: 978-1-936628-32-2
Softcover, 5½” x 8½”
$8.00
Purchase at the Accents Store

Curtis L. CrislerCurtis L. Crisler’s forthcoming poetry book, “This” Ameri-can-ah,will be released in 2015 (Cherry Castle Publishing). His books are Pulling Scabs (nominated for a Pushcart), Tough Boy Sonatas (YA), and Dreamist: a mixed-genre novel (YA), and his poetry chapbooks are Wonderkind, Soundtrack to Latchkey Boy, andSpill. He’s been published in many magazines, journals, and anthologies. He is Associate Professor of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, and a Cave Canem Fellow.

291 thoughts on “Black Achilles by Curtis L. Crisler”

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