Picture X

Poetry. Tim Shaner's PICTURE X is a journey through the "poethics" of nature writing in a time marked by the catastrophes of war and impending environmental collapse. Rather than heed Thoreau's admonishment to leave the domesticated world behind on one's walks through the Wild, Shaner does the opposite, bringing the schizophrenic chatter of postmodernity into the built environment of the park, in this case Spencer Butte, a wooded park at the southern tip of Eugene, Oregon. Here, the poet refuses to yield entirely to what Thoreau calls the "subtle magnetism of Nature" in place of confronting the political realities traditionally buried by the picturesque.

"In Tim Shaner's PICTURE X, a poet from 'back east,' floored by the natural beauty of the west, confesses his desire to enter into its majesty without tripping over the undergrowth of clichéd naturalism. Irresistibly drawn into description by the manifold shapeliness of the environment, he registers his resistance through a series of startling, mimetic mindscapes. Many hilarious and/or catastrophic moments ensue. It's a wild ride! 'These trees / you know / they're so / lazy — / they just / stand there...' Who can blame them?"—Kit Robinson

"Bemused, bewildered, bedeviled, these poems are imbued with the everyday charm of companionability. Shaner mixes close observations of the social, natural, and linguistic, offering, along the way, philosophical reflections on working, living, and becoming a being being."—Charles Bernstein