Red Dragon Press: Books, poetry. Title: The Crown of Affinity.

The Crown of Affinity

36 pages (2000)

trade paper, saddle-stitched

ISBN 1-891387-04-9

$5.00

About the Book

Woven within the fabric of change is the basic instinct of the individual to resist change. Yet, in the vastness of a rapidly changing society, the individual is often left unable to express deep-seated and complex emotions. Ordinary people feel trapped in a system where changing cultures impose upon moral beliefs, and modern man is forced to embrace modernism to validate his very existence and self-worth.

In this new collection, Laura Qa brings an explicit dimension to her distinctive visionary poetry. Discordant scenes of daily life are vividly juxtaposed with fantastic images of human reactions to modern technology and values. She constructs an unfeigned portrayal of the internal being searching for a spiritual identity. Here, the individual is everyman, or everywoman, and the quest is not always fulfilled.

Reviews

Mimi Godfrey, Signature, Women's National Book Association/Washington, October 2000
"Fascinated by the beauties of the universe, intrigued by the new, her narrators long to find ways to express their feelings.... The answer would seem to lie in... the development of a poetic language that can speak to the ways in which - despite the futuristic feel of some of the poems - we already live. Readers will find themselves nodding in rueful recognition at Qa's world, where value is measured in terms of consumption and market forces.... She offers no easy answers in this remarkable collection."

Contents

Neophyte in the Metroplex • Glimmers • Free Play • Mind Color Pets • The Activist • Miasma • Shroud of Tradition • Knocking at My Door • Sky Fall • Affliction of the Eye • Clear Madness • Wretched Class • Axiom for a Nothingist • A Rose in Winter • Luna's Lullaby • Flowers of the Ashes • The Burning River • Dog Days Blossoms • In the Age of Extremes • Of Necessity • The Poet's Dream

Sample

In the Age of Extremes

The ceiling vibrates above my head,
the stairway twists beneath my feet—
I fail to ascend with the masses
treading step-by-step to nowhere.

With promises I must not keep,
kindness has become a hindrance;
gifts given fade and all that remains
draws evil from my weakness.

In faith, I have escaped this jail,
travailing in my goal
to disavow obligations made
outside of my control.

I am not a cyborg,
I am not a machine;
the realization, oh, my joy,
I have failed my programming.

I listen as the clamor tells
the wheel of fate turns:
history alone one cannot halt,
so, I take it for my own.

I scan every measure of metal,
a crack as foothold to declare
and passage reveal to a place
past the parasites of failure.

I have lost the way of justice,
confused evil and good;
the lesson of academic concern:
in Order there is no free will.

We are products of conditioning
regardless of abilities
to reason beyond limitations
of the human psyche.

The goal is the same for anyone—
at the last remains only
justification by amoral means
allowing rewards and recognition.

And, I’ve learned from those
I once called my friends,
selfishness is a flat admission
in this age of extremes.

Other Books by Laura Qa from Red Dragon Press

Personal Values: Writings by Uncommon Women

(with Elizabeth Croydon and Dee Snyder)

Tribute to the Hound

True Stories: Fiction by Uncommon Women

(with Grace Cavalieri, Susan Cole, Jean Russell, and Dee Snyder)

The Voice of the Image