William Heyen

Often reading like something of a poetic journal more so than a poem, this work has some striking moments and comes across as frighteningly current & relevant--even more than two decades after publication. Heyen's blend of nature, 'current' events/war, and personal understanding is impressive, and a fairly powerful example of what a long poetic sequence is capable of when focused in to a particular exploration.

All told, this isn't a simple read, and it's also not as dated as it should be given the current conflicts. If you're interested in poetry that attempts some reconciliation of personal understanding with war, or at poetry which will both take you back to the Gulf War and also telescope you forward into now, this might very well be worth picking up.… (more)

Penn State’s football empire is being disassembled. Aged (at 45!?) football stars are committing suicide and asking that their skulls be examined to determine how years of head-snapping, spine-jolting tackles affect players’ brains. Doping scandals, no longer simply baseball’s bane, flicker on the television and internet feeds every night.

What better time for a book of poetry about the apocalyptic role of corporate sport?

None. Which is why The Football Corporations, from renowned poet William Heyen, lands like a buzzer-beater—nothing but net—with a resounding thud, louder than the cheers and jeers, on the hardwood floor of the zeitgeist. Today’s concept of sport has been corrupted by not only corporations but the players, and even the fans. Heyen avoids cliché accusations or pontification by starter-pistoling the discussion into a future of packed coliseums threatened by dirty-bomb attacks and Escape From New York death matches.

Amid Heyen’s hooligan hymns of misplaced machismo and bloody doom, he drops quiet gems that glint with reflections of the soul:
From “The Reader”
Our village church bells ring to summon us
for our final communion, as was our plan.
I was reading a book for the last time—
this loss, above others...breaks my heart.

Superbly crafted poetry that dissects the more secular "opiate of the masses" known as sport.… (more)