The idea of a poetry chain is a really slick hook. You choose a poet, take two of his or her poems, and then get him or her to choose the next poet in the chain who does the same and so on and so forth. It's a great way to build a collection of poems practically automatically, from an editorial standpoint.
The poetry chains found in McSweeney's Three Books Held Within by Magnets are, so far, mostly made of iron links. Good, firm poems that are neat expressions of states of being or qualities, but that are just there. They hold the chain together and that's that. Some are shinier than others though, like those of James Tate, Brenda Shaughnessy, Lynn Emanuel, Brandon Som, and francine j. harris.
The poems of these poets that appear in this collection do a bit of mind bending, which is just what a poem should do. Describe and express away, oh poetry, but Poetry will be over here bending minds with nothing more than the power of its printed words!
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