Thief of Hearts

Author: Maxwell Owen Clark

Publisher: Roof Books (2022)

Maxwell Owen Clark’s Thief of Hearts breaks barriers of both traditional and experimental poetry. In

“order to sub-tain ‘the’ proper
moenumtin of thoht. The
uthoragon must ember
to fo.rget,nod,to exdpend
witout reserve.”

Clark’s initial foray breaks with the expectation of one kind of meaning focused on visual

{opened unto yet )

to slow reading to an assured pace of comprehension. If you’re willing to read at his pace.

Toward the middle the book transitions from predominantly visual to semantic. By the end, although nothing has ever been made quite clear, the reader knows they are in a fully semantic frame that leads the reader to explore the roots of language.

Using different fonts and sizes, symbols, fragmented text, and his own forms of erasure Clark’s musicality and chaotic rhythm spark and prevail. Even in sections where the text can be read more prosaically, disruptions dominate Clark’s poetry, taking shape in the combination of words, letters, in size, and even other languages.

Thief of Hearts is a truly innovative and exciting work that shows the delicate control, and inevitable disruption challenge the reader to defy the definitions that have been given to poetry, alphabets, and even space on the page.