Dissonance is meant to serve as a
repository for my English poems not included in The Voidman, A Damascene Tapestry
or The
Irreverent Activist (Abel’s
Confessions). It consists of four short collections: Dissonance,
Mindscapes, The Walls and Damascus. Most poems date back to the mid-1990s, the
apex of my poetic activities. As is the case with the poems in the Tapestry,
many of the poems in Damascus seem to have a prophetic quality to them when
examined in light of current tragic developments.
The poems here reflect a mixture
of styles. Some are reminiscent of The Voidman’s in the sense that while
written in the first person they don’t actually relate a personal experience.
Others evoke the spirit of the Tapestry through their attempt to capture the
essence of life in Damascus. Most are sui generis, mixing the personal and
observational, and mixing prose with poetry.