Contemplations

Unlike John O'Loughlin's first collection of abstract poems, simply called 'Abstracts' (1983), this later project, divided into three volumes with a total of nearly 400 poems, is non-readerly and hence abstract in a patterned and completely formal way such that requires nothing more than contemplation, as suggested by the title, of its lower-case monosyllabic structures. One could argue that these abstract poems, which the author regards as a form of 'word art' or, better, 'word sculpture', are primarily intended to assist one in developing a contemplative frame-of-mind at the expense of readerly norms, thereby transcending the intellect in what could be regarded as a mode of literary salvation. - A Centretruths editorial.