A rhythm to stand beside

A rhythm to stand beside is a varied collection, ranging from extended experiments in language (“A brush through a mathematical selection of G”), to a kind of magical lyricism in poems invoking luck and inspiration; from a rambling, cumulatively hilarious ode to Ontario, to poems of plain but searching emotional statement.rnrnIn the elusive, semi-abstract and freeassociative style that drew readers to Hannan’s earlier work, these poems tease out the secret thoughts, fears, and longings that run like a subtext under the stream of sensory data assailing us humans as we move through an ordinary day. Unabashedly contemporary, often colloquial, the poems pull us along “at the speed of our footsteps”. Hannan has been working informally with a group of contemporary dancers, looking at ways to write poetry to accompany performances; he explores the idea in poems that form a thread running through this book.