Introduction

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.