Sky-Mammals

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In his new collection of poems, Blair Hamelink portrays a life in the sky, blending his passion and woe with lyric velocity. In this book, the allure of the whimsy inevitably meets the tragedy, as was the flight of Icarus, and as is the skydiver's lifestyle of "toil & suave / adrenaline & repent." With particular desperation and spinal ache, the speaker of these poems seems to be looking for an escape from the "angel-factory," where skydivers have been "jovially flung, dealt Pocket Aces / & an itch for that miniscule velocity on the cheek." In these reflections, there are questions of worth toward a sport that fantasizes the superfluous flight, and questions of morale toward skydivers who are "guilty of tumult" and "imitating the immortal." Alongside those questions, this book conjures up mythic and real figures who have contributed to skydiving, such as: Icarus, the Rebel Angels, da Vinci, Napoleon, Moloch, Newton, and some Dark-Vowelled Birds. As Blair writes in his preface, this book is a nod toward Paradise Lost, John Milton's epic poem depicting the fall of mankind, who, much like today's skydivers, were so consumed by temptation and revolt.