E P I L O G U E by Craig Watson, edited by Ted Pearson

Epilogue already says a great deal, and yet it concludes nothing. As Watson writes, “We wouldn’t have to ask any more of the past / if the present came back.” Which says one doesn’t spend a life in poetry without some scarring. Sometimes sardonic, sometimes wistful – but always honest, if complicated – Watson notes “every idea needs a disguise.” Scars can heal, but there’s no treatment for the experience of being a poet in the world: “The future is pretending to greet you, / and you are pretending to care.” And then, just as quickly, “The terms of extinction are inviolable.” Which isn’t pessimistic. It’s glorious clarity. “The paradox is, the deeper you go, the greater / the opacity of what cannot be said.” Watson is comfortable objectifying the poet as a lens moving through the writing, documenting that movement. But he refuses to gloss over those comforting screens we use to mask the arrant opacity of things. The elusive music of his poems will keep us reading Craig Watson’s work for a very long time.

—Larry Price

Epilogue is a brilliant collection of Craig Watson’s late-stage poetry. As such, it signals neither harmony nor resolution, but intransigence, difficulty, and unresolved conflict. The book may be in that sense the description of a catastrophe, and a humorous one at that. “To be old is to understand everything at last. / But there were so many ways to avoid arriving here.” Watson’s humor can be mordant or acerbic. Only to quickly turn exuberant and seductive. “The goal of sex and poetry is to say, ‘I’ve done it all.’ // Meet me poolside at midnight and I’ll show you how.” A lot of these lines don’t make any sense. Then they do. “It’s time to get back to the pyramid scheme / that is poetry.” Time travel at this stage is de rigueur. “Remember when this was the future?” This dazzling, posthumous work admits the reader into a shimmering, luminous present.

—Kit Robinson

Craig Watson was a man of many talents, interests, and skills. He launched what would become a multifaceted career, first in professional theater as a stage manager, producer, and director of public festivals, concerts, theater productions and poetry readings. He then led the global communications efforts for an international technology company, taught college literature courses, and served as literary manager and associate artistic director at a Tony Award-winning regional theater. Perhaps most importantly, throughout his life Craig made his civic duties a high priority, serving his communities as a volunteer firefighter, an emergency management director and a board member of various arts and cultural organizations.

But his creative work is what always sustained and nourished him, especially as a poet, and mentor to others. Craig was a unique and dynamic voice in a multi-layered community of artists. While he indulged his passion for music and expanded his creative endeavors through painting, collage, and sculpture in later years, he never abandoned his love for and fascination with words. Described as “one of our most original and compelling poets,” Epilogue is his fourteenth book and would not be possible without the help of his lifelong friend and fellow poet, Ted Pearson. It is being published posthumously following Craig’s passing in January 2022.

Book Information:

· Paperback: 62 pages
· Binding: Perfect-Bound
· Publisher: BlazeVOX [books]
· ISBN: 978-1-60964-475-8