Second Law

Elizabeth Willis

Sometimes it seems like tracking down books by certain authors could become a life's work. I finally managed to lay hands on the last Elizabeth Willis book of which I'm aware, Second Law, last week. Unlike her other collections, Second Law is a single long poem, split into five sections and an envoi (actually, this is debatable, as the second portion of the book is entitled "Second Law," while the others remain without title). While it doesn't have the punch of Turneresque, Second Law is a wonderful thing in itself. Willis manages to use L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E conventions in subversive ways, keeping the oddness without letting it divert from what's going on in the poem itself. Her language, as always, is pointed, precise, and evocative.

It's somewhat difficult to build a library of Liz Willis' books, but it should be the goal of anyone interested in the many different and wonderful things language can do.