Poetry. Pierre Joris's poems are characterized by an arresting mix of passion and intellect, by what Pound called language charged with meaning. For Joris, a language is always a second language, and his poetry takes as its main concern the issues of marginality and exile. He is unique in being an American poet comfortable in three languages, and his work is filled with a dynamic language play, cross-linguistic puns, and themes of speculation on language, translation, and nomadism. Joris's first major publication in the United States, POASIS highlights his work since the mid-1980s. Reading POASIS is experiencing the pleasure and the challenge of being constantly on the edge of what matters, be it the alphabet, a tree, a lake, a lemur, or 'a dream of a desert in a book'"--Nicole Brossard.