You Cannot Shoot a Poem

Paula Closson Buck’s singular, lyric poetry has always shone with its unforgettable images, uncompromising syntax, and meditative voice. You Cannot Shoot a Poem is Buck’s most astonishing collection yet, tackling matters current and ever-present, political and personal, animal and spiritual. Each poem startles and wakes us, demanding we pay attention to remember ‘where once we were human.’ ~Shara McCallum

Gosh, this book is stunning. From Niagara to Venice to a ghost city in Cyprus, Paula Closson Buck’s poems explore the complicated, constant negotiations between the possibility of beauty and the persistence of despair, finding in the world’s relentless decay whatever brightness remains. (‘Even corrupted, it glitters,’ she writes.) Buck is a tuning fork for the human condition, a precision instrument seeking balance, and her pitch resonates: subtle, thrilling, intimate, gorgeous. ~Amy Newman

Paula Closson Buck is a rare poet whose sharp observation is equal to her wit, her wit supported by her intelligence, and her intelligence fully engaged with a passion for beauty that is both sensual and ethical. You Cannot Shoot a Poem is a brilliant book, powerful and tactful, engaged and adroit. ~Margaret Gibson