The Czar

Poetry. The poems of THE CZAR by Mary Biddinger and Jay Robinson stand at the intersection of ironic political commentary and hyperbolized body currency. In the world of this collection, THE CZAR is a figurehead replete with ceremony and artificial gestures. But is he provocative humor or allegorical heft? And what happens when power is passed to the powerless in a secret handshake that's more tongue on tongue than tongue-in-cheek? This book-length collaboration pivots between comic interludes and satirical expos&#233s, at its heart the rhythm of the present tense, history's most unreliable narrator no matter the king or kingdom.