WEDNESDAYS WITH DENISE: April 12, 2023

Kyle Dargan’s Panzer Herz: A Live Dissection will be published on April 15, 2023 by TriQuarterly Books. Panzerherz is an armored heart, a medical term to describe a dense calcification, "armored” in the manner of a military vehicle. Metaphorically rich, Dargan opens his book with conflicting quotes about masculinity by Theodore Roosevelt, André 3000, Michel Foucault, Prodigy, and Doctur Dot. So before readers even get to the first incredible poem, we know we are in for a complex ride. Vulnerable and analyzing—the armor is carefully taken away as each poem builds on the next—this book eloquently works to confront racism and capitalism and its effects on the male body and psyche.
Here's a stunning example of Dargan’s work:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/poetkyledargan/poem-minefields-by-kyle-dargan
Congratulations, Kyle!

What makes good poetry? For me, Kyle Dargan got it right! The poems are emotive and truthful and stare you straight in the face and ask you to bleed. I thoroughly enjoyed them and will recommend to others!

A fascinating exercise and experience in language. Kyle Dargan's work is intriguing and evocative -- a book to be enjoyed by those who appreciate the poetic.