Tombo (McSweeney’s Poetry Series)

Words follow words like autumn leaves racing each other atop a rushing stream, swooping and spinning, each glistening in dappled sunlight or hiding in spots of shade until it catches another current to spurt ahead. Sentences Faulkneresque in length yet reminiscent of William Carlos Williams in their simplicity and naked power fill this slim volume. Di Piero’s words will take readers back to times past and places of uncertain memories, evoking feelings as strong and as deep as an ocean eddy, jerking readers out of complacency and into a kind of raw reality. There is a breathlessness to his writing, as if he has to get these words out before they escape from his mind into some other work of literature, but he holds them close, picking and choosing exactly the right words to build his images and stir the emotions of his readers. None of those readers will remain untouched by these poems. De Piero’s poems are earthy and organic, yet have such sophistication there is no doubt his work belongs in the most serious study of modern poetry.