It's probably harder to stay on top of Poetry than any other form, as poems are scattered hither and yon, here and there in every imaginable type of publication, so a best of the year is especially valuable here.

How To Be Drawn has arrived!  The latest volume of poetry by Pittsburgh's own MacArthur Fellow, Terrance Hayes, this 100 page collection is divided into three parts, each composed of ten pieces (decalogues?) --Troubled Bodies; Invisible Souls; A Circling Mind -- followed by an epiloguical closer.  While firmly grounded in Hayes's own personal landscape, the thirty-one poems collected here roam the world, from "Russia's red-light districts" to New York's Chinatown, explore histories and cultures, and celebrate a cornucopia of creators and creative forms -- most abundantly, musicians and music; most succinctly, writers and writing; and, most centrally (and, from the vantage point here at The Copacetic Comics Company, most intriguingly) visual artists and drawing -- each and all in the service of constructing a suitable place for now, in which necessity will not be throttled, and compassion thrive.  This collection is unquestionably the most formally inventive of Hayes's career, yet despite its risk taking -- both playful and serious -- the attention to language never strays and every word is judiciously chosen and placed.  Each piece will be a delight to those who treasure the form.  Sample a poem -- one that coalesces some of the volume's themes --  now, HERE.

The latest poetry collection by the National Book Award-winning MacArthur Fellow, Pittsburgh-based poet, Terrance Hayes features 70 poems sharing the same title, identical with that of the collection itself.  Prepare to be challenged.