Busted

Alumni of Vancouver's determinably unofficial Kootenay School of Writing, a group that took a heavy lead from the Language poets but added an almost punkish edge, Nancy Shaw and Catriona Strang write Busted from deep within that first moment in which one believes everything's truly gone wrong. There are sections of ""Bulletins,"" ""Credos"" ""Anthems,"" ""Shuffles"" and ""Gripes,"" which contain anti-slogans like ""Come in and stuff my take-off"" or ""Brown up your daily high-brow."" While some of the language seems a jokey residue of some deep graduate-level reading (""I crave triangulation, too""), the words jump off the page in this book with little slackening of energy and no loss of the target, ""Now dubious, now rocketing, just watch, just you watch me shaft the mines of ownership.""