Yamrus examines the theme of endurance through this
collection of twelve short poems. Eight of the poems focus on Yamrus’s wry,
ironic take on being an enduring poet, having now published twenty-one volumes
of poetry and two novels. The front & back covers are by the enigmatic Swedish artist Janne Karlsson.
My
favourite poem, however in Endure is the portrait poem ‘they’ in which
Yamrus takes a different stance on the issue. A sick soul, known as Ballrush,
achieves a sense of enduring
memory in his community when:
one
day,
Ballrush
got
a
pistol,
a
rifle,
a
pocket
full
of shells,
and
made
those
people
in the market
remember
that name forever.
This
chapbook only just begins to lick at the genius that is John Yamrus. For
longer, more considered works, I recommend you start with his collections of
poetry doing cartwheels on doomsday
afternoon and BARK.
John Yamrus’s Endure
is Punk Chapbook #7 of the 2014 Tree Killer Ink series. Check out where to buy
the chap and the other titles here: http://www.epicrites.org/tree-killer-ink.html
Visit John Yamrus online at: www.johnyamrus.com
