The truths that Ocean reveals throughout the book do not feel absolute and all-knowing though. His life lessons are slipped gently aside an image in the poems. Ocean has so many small truths and observations that he shares with the reader. I want to talk about the intelligence of the poem a bit, before continuing on to talk about the form. In the lines above, and throughout the book, is such intelligence and versatility. Ocean even created his own rules for the section breaks in this book too (you’ll see it when you buy the book). The form of the poems are so constantly and originally inventive. He writes in couplets, he writes chiasmus, and then he creates his own forms. That a woman on a sinking//ship becomes a life raft- no matter how soft her skin…”Īs a poet, Ocean shifts into prose and out of prose. If you must know anything,/know that the hardest task is to live only once. Here is an excerpt of Ocean playing with prose in “Immigrant Haibun”: “Then, as if breathing, the sea swelled beneath us.
I also remembered that he is currently working on a novel. But then I remembered the prose blocks that Ocean wrote in his chapbook No. One of the first big jolts that I encountered from Night Sky With Exit Wounds (formally) was the poem “Immigrant Haibun.” Here, the poet extends his lines across the page and writes in big prose blocks. There are so many turns in this book surprise is one of the only things that can be anticipated. Because the cityĬontinuing through the book, I began to take notice of the form, word choice, themes in each poem. Through white sand, his knuckles carving a trail Night Sky With Exit Wounds is a book of great patience and intelligence and is worthy of the reader’s trust. Ocean Vuong was easing my way into, and directing my way out of, one of the most honest and brave poetry collections I’ve ever read. The opening poem was subtle, as the closing poem is subtle. It doesn’t need to be the greatest hit in the collection.” I re-read the poems. Derrick said “The opening poem is welcoming the reader into the book, it is an introduction, a greeting. I asked Derrick to read the first two poems for me. My friend Derrick Austin was sitting across from me. I liked the verbs and the motion and the panic in the second poem “Telemachus” more. I thought the opening poem, “Threshold,” was too broad and vague for an entry way into the book. I wanted to be floored from the first poem to the last, no room for blunders. When I first opened Night Sky With Exit Wounds I was worried the book wouldn’t measure up to its hype. Night Sky With Exit Wounds is a must read and re-read, a book that will be cherished. He stands at the feet of American poetry and unties the masters’ shoelaces. Ocean Vuong creates and poses alternate universes within these poems. Night Sky With Exit Wounds is terrifying, heartbreaking, surreal, and lyrical–I’m not quite sure how a poet can fit so much humanity into so few words. How do you pay homage to a poet who has lived through some of the experiences described in Night Sky With Exit Wounds? I want to thank Ocean Vuong for his strength, for all that he has overcome, for the beauty of his writing in the midst of such chaos. ‘Night Sky with Exit Wounds’ by Ocean Vuong
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