Rampant

Marvin Bell’s uninhibited imagination and often gritty curiosity have always taken on wildly diverse subjects. In these new poems he ventures far and near, from war in the Middle East and famine in Sudan, to surfing in Hawaii and life in Catatonia. In Rampant, the ancient Greeks are at the horizon, the crab boats are tethered to the pier, Louis Braille is being re-entombed, Vaccination Day has arrived, and parasites discuss us in the future. Bell has said he “likes ideas to have a little dirt on their shoes.” By the conclusion of Rampant, his shoes are well-traveled. The suite, “Journal of the Posthumous Present,” was commissioned by the Getty Research Institute and featured on the cover of American Poetry Review. Remarkable for its formal approach and its socio-philosophical investigation, it is simultaneously groundbreaking and characteristic of this unique poet’s long, distinguished career.