Tjia and rawlings are Merlinesque poets in that they reengineer what is ultimately the provisional relationship between words and things such that the language becomes active in startling ways. The result is poetry which penetrates deep into the reader's psyche like timed depth charges. The clarity sparkles, and you wonder if these books could be loci of the supernatural. Indeed, these collections are, in vastly different ways, cognizant of the inner lives of their audience and crafted from the stuff of prophesy.
