Poetry: “Speech” by Edward Manzi
“Speech,” by Edward Manzi doesn’t give us much, but there is a slightly tongue-in-cheek aspect to this tiny little gem of a prose poem. The poem is ostensibly about speech, but it’s really about much more. Manzi’s poem is about tension. It’s about contrast. Manzi evokes “speech,” but the poem is short, it doesn’t say much. The first words: “various” and “particular” are opposites, and we find the same kind of doubling all over the poem, from the parallels created by “mundane” and “cataclysmic” to the follow up with “as big as mountains” and “small as dust.” It’s hard to know what to take from this poem. Most poems are more forthcoming in their message. Manzi may be experimenting, or making a point about marriage, relationships, coupling, pairs in general. The poem is unsettling and thrilling and curious and uncertain and in some ways, brand new.
Speech
Edward Manzi
Edward Manzi lives in Tahoe City, CA. His poems have been published in Another Chicago Magazine, Bodega, Hobart, and others. He also has poems forthcoming in North Dakota Review and Bluebird Scribe Review. His debut full-length prose poetry collection, Prisoner Cowboy, was published in 2023 with CW Books. He has an MFA from the University of New Hampshire. He can be connected with at Ed@Manzzzz.bsky.social
