The Sleeping Mermaid

Literature & Fiction

Rob Couteau

Poetry

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"Novelist and literary enthusiast Rob Couteau brings readers part of his love with 'The Sleeping Mermaid,' a book of flowing poetry and thought that asks plenty of questions and offers plenty of answers. 'The Sleeping Mermaid' is a poetry collection well worth considering.' - Midwest Book Review. 
 "In Couteau's work there is no phoniness, no artifice for the sake of artifice-though in the great French tradition this poet knows so well, there is some art for the sake of art. Couteau does not venture into realms of obscurity where meaning is confined to the interior of a Klein bottle; his poems all have direct force, subjects, even verbs. He is intent on having his readers share in his observations, whether it be his artful retelling and reinterpretations of Native American story and song, or his appraisal of how a woman parades across the avenue. He does not ever sacrifice ordinary sense for an extra-ordinary significance. Instead, he speaks with fervor, with something to say, with something he wants us to hang onto and in the process come to an understanding of why it matters not just to him but should matter to us. [...] I think it was William Carlos Williams who said that poetry is belief. Couteau believes in belief, believes that poetic worth is measured in faithfulness to what is, what has been, and what could be. These are his talismans; these are the points where he begins and ends. His poetic excursions take us to many places: to the Paris of Rimbaud and Picasso, to the Native North Americans, to mythology and history and how the woman he is encountering is seducing him as he seduces her (and us), and finally, how alone, the cosmos plays itself out at 3 a.m. when the only lap dog is memory." - Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno (author of The Continual Pilgrimage: American Writers in Paris, An Invisible Spectator: A Biography of Paul Bowles, and E.E. Cummings: A Biography), from his Introduction to The Sleeping Mermaid.

The Sleeping Mermaid. Second Revised Edition.

A selection of 101 poems by Rob Couteau. Over 40 of these poems were published in 15 different print and online journals between 1985 and 2020. "The new work might be quite dark, a recognition of the loss that time inevitably entails, yet he also pursued moments of high beauty. There is a deep tenderness in these words, mingled with the sadness of age. If one goes back to the early poems one can find the tenderness there, too, as it is in his work as a case manager for the poor and homeless. There is much to admire in Couteau's oeuvre, but this tenderness stands out among so many things that make reading his work clearly an important experience." - Poet, critic, and literary historian Ed Foster, founder of Talisman House, Publishers, and Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry and Poetics. from his Introduction to Selected Poems."Selected Poems features 101 poems, 40 of which have been printed in numerous print and online journals since 1985. The rest are new to this collection, and represent a satisfying blend of old and new works designed to appeal to newcomers and prior fans alike. Rob Couteau's works are diverse. They follow no set poetic structure, even defying some of them when the muse strikes and special needs indicate that the subject is more important than poetic form.... His inspections of artistic, literary, and social issues are astute and compelling.... Don't anticipate set structures, uniform poetic approaches, or singular subjects here. Selected Poems offers a freewheeling approach to poems and life alike, and is a thought provoking, evocative gathering of works recommended for literary readers not bound by convention or rules." Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review.

Selected Poems

History & Criticism

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Books by Rob Couteau