Black Hole and Other Poems

Book excerpt: Black Hole and Other Poems, a new compilation of verse by poet David Murray, focuses on the role played by hunger for power in reducing the success of heterosexual romantic relationships. Divided into four parts, this collection explores the topic in a wide variety of styles and approaches. The first part of the collection, Poems in a Lighter Vein, interprets the familiar vampire story as being an allegory of common male fantasies of having power over many brides, and most of its verses are satirical in nature. The second part, Black Hole, contains examples based upon Murrays experiences of the personal power, all too easily abused, exerted by men over women. Treading Water, the third part, describes Murrays feelings when he found himself forced to compete with a male rival to see which of the two could exert the most power over a particular females affections. In the fourth and final part, Bagatelles, each poem attempts to arouse, in only two lines, core emotional responses of the kind that are usually assumed to require longer poems. Satirical, gutsy and succinct by turns, this book explores the role of power in sexual relationships and the varying aspects of that power.