U of Arizona Poetry Center applauds Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip

Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip is a cool customer. Many pleasing choices went into the book's design to make it so, from the eponymous title—at once underscoring and holding at arm's length the identity of the poet—to the non-magenta cover, which is chartreuse with a substantial, sanded feel. 'MY FIDELITY IS MY OWN DISASTER' is stamped in silver on the back: what a beginning, or end! The poems inside more than make good on the promise of the design. They are pleasurable to read, cool and poised in their approach to language and image, yet philosophically urgent: they're not playing around. 'Early Education' provides a touchstone for Robertson's concerns in this collection, using English and Latin to fashion an obsessional prayer addressed to 'dominant' (i.e., dominum/Lord), a.k.a. 'rex' (king/dog/wrecks); the poem is also an attempt to explain oneself, one's fibs (both lies and heartbeats). Language, body, and divinity are a trinity for the book. 'With/ Blood running through my wrists I represent/ This,' Robertson says in 'A Hotel,' and again, speaking of the gods in 'After Trees': 'Sometimes I permit myself to travel/ in their vitality. Their posture and noise/ pertain to History. When they lose their will// I feel love/ mixed with repulsion.'