Theis's newest book Lorca's Grave, named for Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca who was executed by a fascist firing squad in 1936, is a poetic tour de force--a dizzying journey into nightmare regions on the far side of the psyche as reflected in the glassy eyes of the still warm corpse of the materialistic American Dream. The emperor is not only naked, but dead and his minions have yet to come to terms with his demise. Like an innocent child in a sandbox, Theis digs up the grave (his typewriter as his shovel) exposing the gamy wounds, putrefying flesh and crumbling bones of our deceased, but still sovereign, overlord.
The dead body is our own. Yet it is nearly unrecognizable until our abusive-parent social system forces our cold blue lips into ghastly smiles and props us up in front of its special effects cameras to simulate life. Soon those images of our re-animated selves, heavily edited and augmented by special effects, are beamed back at us (in the most extensive and concerted propaganda campaign ever known) with one goal--to fool us into believing we are happier dead than alive.
Lorca's Grave is the final countdown to the post "1984" apocalypse--the implosion of all social order and our descent into anarchic hell--sadly the inevitable destination for our civilization...our planet...our sanity...when the dominant order co-opts, contorts, then consumes every hopeful impulse, twists every truth, sullies every grand gesture, falsifies every proof. Even if this destruction is not prevented the indomitable human spirit will inevitably rise phoenix-like in its full splendor radiating piety, creativity, and love.
Theis's poetry is a living, breathing mirror that penetrates the premeditated fog to bring into sharp focus our corrupt reality. Each poem is full of the vibrant energy and power of genuine life--life which the modern world at every turn threatens finally to steal from us, life we will not let it steal. |
Rick Klaus Theis's first book, Recycled Words, is a hard-hitting book of poetry which excels in presenting encapsulated moments in the life of its author--moments that add up to an elucidation of the nature of being human itself. Most of the poems have an austere quality that cuts to the bare bones of life's tragedies and ecstasies. Theis is from Warren, Ohio, the same town that the great poet Kenneth Patchen grew up in. Both Theis and Patchen critique the defects of society without self-consuming anger and with an exuberance for living that is unmatched in most of the other brutally direct poetry around including that of most of the Beat poets. Theis allows the content of each poem to dictate its style. Thus the structure and rhythms of the poems vary, making the reading of the book a stimulating adventure. Each turn of the page contains one pleasant surprise after another. And Theis is not afraid to have fun with words, for example his opening to the poem "Blow Man Blow": "Smooth and soulful, the serpentine solo/ Slides out of the hole o' the sax man's sax./ It slithers on over like a sensuous lover under the covers/ And melts my earwax." The 126 poems covering these 180 pages range from the deeply spiritual to the crass and profane, the romantic to the erotic, the cynical to the idealistic. In short, Theis draws a detailed poetic map of the human experience, one which may touch you in ways no other poetry has touched you before. This volume is highly recommend to anyone interested in exploring the limits of modern poetry and the horizons beyond. (Please ask your local library to order a copy or two of Recycled Words ISBN: 0-9655454-1-5, so those who cannot afford it will have access to it.)