Friday, March 20, 2009

Chris Mason - Airs of Air


The humble chapbook, Airs of Air, is comprised of five movements: Terracubes, 6 boxes of Arcs, Mirrored Hyperbolas, Ripples, and Pinwheels. Each slithering composition invites the reader to travel through the pieces in a number of different ways – a technique many writers have attempted, but haven't achieved the success found here. These poems actually look fun to read and once you do read them, you’re smiling at how kind they are to you. And I really do mean kind.

There's a sweetness to Chris Mason's lyrical geometries, a sweetness I've never found in any other writing. But it's also conceptual, and that combination is striking. How many artists or writers are both sweet and smart and employ that into their work?


I often call Mason the Gandalf of Baltimore. In a city filled with mystics and wizards, both good and bad, he's casting the right spells to make people care about the poetic tradition of experimentation.
Chris Mason of Old Songs.

2 comments:

Keith N B said...

hi justin, could you tell me where mason's "airs of air" is available? thanks.

Anonymous said...

Hey Keith, it's only available now as a book I'm giving out to friends - but if you email me your address I'll send you one.
thetinklers@mindspring.com

Thanks! Chris