Mose

This book-length narrative poem is astonishing: Graham's debut tells the story of Mose, a convicted murderer in a Texas prison, with all the insight and inexorable suspense of a Dostoevsky novel-while sculpted by the craft, form and language of poetry. Pages are titled by the number of days Mose has left in prison, with each ``day'' constituting a poem in itself. The unrhymed triplet form Graham uses is full of internal rhyme, assonance and alliteration, and develops a rhythm of pulse and necessity that belies ever mistaking it for prose. Within this poetic frame a tapestry of voices is woven to explain the crime and its legacy: a narrative voice acting as omniscient witness to Mose's circumstances; italicized lines which represent a letter Mose is writing-either literally or in his head-to his love, Gracie; while capitalized or in bold-face are the voices of various external authorities, from Christian hymns to a prison manual to newspaper clippings. These languages of Mose's inner and outer worlds grow confused when his own perceptions do, though Graham's skill as a poet-storyteller makes the overall effect lucid, even when Mose hallucinates a chorus of voices accompanying ``angels two by deafening/ two.'' Graham is assistant professor of English at Lynchburg College. (Jan.)