Edward Byrne

Tracery Edward Byrne

Lyric condensations and translations composed during plague time




The poems in Tracery enact a lyric condensation. Many of them were written in transit: on the bus, on a bicycle, on foot, in the endless to and fro of work life. Their lyric brevity allowed composition directly in the brain, or quick jottings in a pocket notebook, primarily governed by the music of reason - "the ear's judgement" (Joachim du Bellay), the "natural music" of poetry (Eustache Deschamps), "music at the heart of thinking" (Fred Wah). A major feature of this work is its incorporation and reworking - a translation - of other works of western literature and philosophy across the span of its brief, localized history. These are poems that barge into the arena of classic and modernist literary works with little regard for what is generally regarded as genius, with contempt for the ever-present misogyny and gender segregation of our collective past, with an ever-present critique, but also with a constantly renewable sense of wonder and humility. Written in a time of plagues, through dreams and daily life, these are poems to be enjoyed by anyone who observes events occurring in time, and then wonders at them.