In the countries that never happened.

Abstract

This thesis is a collection of poems both in lines and prose, all of which are described in an introductory aesthetic statement. This introduction describes the poems by exploring two schools of thought which informed the sensibility of their author. The first is Deep Image romanticism; the second, Postmodem skepticism. The Deep Image looks to the unconscious as a source of poetic "truth"; the Postmodem, or a certain current thereof, undercuts truth, and in doing so, castrates the Deep Image. The central problem of the thesis, then, involves finding means to access the serious in a Postmodem world; this struggle is most apparent in the tone and in the emotional content of the images. Where Postmodem uncertainty prevails, the tone remains light and the images pastel. Where Deep Image romanticism gains momentum, the tone becomes more serious and the images more resonant. The volume is divided into three sections. The first, "A Measured Hello," is mainly love poems. The second, "The Duck Pond," pushes the boundaries of the prose poem form. The third, "Black Dress," treats the mutability theme.