Second person ethereal

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation consists of a critical introduction and a full-length book of poetry. The critical introduction deals with the literary manifestations of exile in contemporary poetry. It examines the forms of exile expressed in said poetry, the literary characteristics of each form and provides examples of each form. The introduction also outlines the critical discourse around the idea of exilic poetry. Finally, the introduction also connects this research to the original poems that follow. The book of poems explores exilic tensions by asking readers to inhabit (either the I or the you) the poems, and in many cases, assign their own value to the remaining position. Maintaining a sense of both intimacy and distance, the poems are filled with sensory traces of memory, ritual rhythms, echoes of music, and clipped images, all of which I try to orchestrate with fluidity.