Fixing the Self
For only in this constantly shifting state of belief and non-belief can mystery cut meaning out from under itself, which is nearly always the catalyst for a poem by Byrne. Reason enough it seems to read this collection, for amid Byrne’s subversion of the written word and the masterful way in which he keeps language in a state of almost aporetic equilibrium, the readers will realize, almost at once, that they are encountering one of the least ponderous minds in contemporary poetry, and one of its most Promethean voices.
Paul Stubbs reviews The Overmind by James Byrne.