Granny Cloud

The fantastical and strange second collection from Fathi (Great Guns) evokes André Breton’s surrealism and the linguistic playfulness of Gertrude Stein in lines such as “Now each wave curtsies, the bather has anal/ and a suit of medieval holes for the dolphin’s spurs” and the “bride slip ‘n slides on her back to us—then on her head (a ballpoint pen), quicksand in her hair.” Revealing the underlying oddity in the ordinary, Fathi turns the mundane into the mythical. In “Dinnerwise,” long, prosaic lines capture internal rhyme that transgresses narrative, “when I look down, at what I must eat, or read by light, or/ attempt to tweeze the cherry from/ the comma, and the gesture faces completion, while/ breath hypercolors the greeting.” The concluding section, “Anyone’s Don’tanelle,” is a virtuosic take on the villanelle that breaks most of its rules, using repetition and thematic focus to convey a sense of circling or spiraling inward, creating a fluid, chaotic, and less predictable form. Enthusiasts of formal innovation and linguistic play will savor this astonishing volume. (Sept.)