The Sounds of Dust

Dust by Dave Buracker

Dust by Dave Buracker is a chapbook of poems that are simple, accessible, and informal, yet written with such a punch in the music of language, they are wonderful to hear as each poem is read. Buracker’s style may need a little getting used to: the language is not beautiful, magical, or particularly lyrical, but don’t be fooled. These poems utilize conventions such as alliteration and sound repetition that are highlighted within the backdrop of short lines that help draw attention to the the beauty of their music.

Take for example the “c/k”, “f/v”  and even the “l” sound repetitions that follow the opening “st”, “p” and “l” alliteration in this poem:

Paper Rock Scissors

1.

Stainless steel pepper
shaker perched on a
loose leaf notebook,
floral table cloth,
contradiction or koan,

cannot compare to
window light walking
across carpet, cascading
over wooden chairs and
cubic zarconia fingers
flailing in conversation,
fondling non-dairy
creamers, bent forks
and paper fades

…

Buracker must listen to his word choices with a great deal of attention and discretion; it is not surprising to learn that he is also a musician.

Buracker also well-utilizes an often-overlooked and yet so important aspect of poetry: the title. The titles are as simple as the poems themselves, so much so that one could at first think the titles of these poems were created haphazardly, but they weren’t. The poems are not always what they appear to be about, but the titles often bring together topics and themes that frequently seem unrelated:

Flood
Shroud
Orpheus Dying
Watchtowers
In Becoming, We Retract
Never
Distance
etc.

Be careful readers, if you only like reading things once: this thin collection might just leave you with a desire to open the book several times over. Dust is 43 pp and can be ordered from Amazon as well as other online outlets.