Coming soon:

Poem by poem comparison of BAP 2002 (Creeley) and BAP 2003 (Komunyakaa).

Rules: First poem in Creelely versus first poem in Kumunyakaa, etc... until the end of the shorter of the two volumes. I am the infallible judge. You are free to disagree with me, of course; just remember that I KNOW MORE THAN YOU DO.

Round 1:

Yusef: "The end of out of the past" by Jonathan Aaron

Bob: "Up to Speed" by Rae Armantrout

Aaron's not very objectionable poem is a retelling of a scene from an old movie; but what does it add to this movie? It seems to be a "second-degree" text in this sense. The hard-boiled dialogue that might work in the movie can fall flat in the poem. I dislike the cliché "strictly business."

Armantrout writes five short fragments, some of them wittier than others. I like the lines "Does a road / run its whole length / at once." This is a poem I will be re-reading.

Score after One Round:

Yusef 0
Bob 1