The Destroyer in the Glass, by Noah Warren

"I take The Destroyer in the Glass to refer to the self as seen in the mirror, the potential destroyer, equally, of others and of oneself. What to do with that destructive capacity, which is finally also a form of energy-which is to say, life-is indeed a question. Necessarily, these are not poems of res-olution, easy or otherwise. They exist more committedly in that space of negative capability than most poems I can think of, these days. ... There is confidence here-even swagger, at times-but always tempered by a self-awareness that can be the catalyst for humility and, yes, empathy."

CARL PHILLIPS, from the Foreword