The Annotated Murder of One
In "The Annotated Murder of One," Jared Pearce takes lines, phrases, and words from the Counting Crows' song, "A Murder of One," and spins them into new directions and dimensions. The poetry collection focuses on memories, history, the future-and on the relationship between love and understanding. Vivid bird imagery is found throughout, but ghosts, flowers, jokes, and a rubbery dessert are just a small sample of images displayed in the collection. The poems are experiments in combining song and poetry, lyrics and stories, memory and vision.While versions of some of the poems in the collection have appeared individually in journals and magazines, the full appreciation of their unifying themes can only be experienced in the collection. The first lines of the poem, "Since We Were Born" might encapsulate the spirit of the collection best: "We break into directions / and parcel into dimensions." The reader of "The Annotated Murder of One" will indeed be transported into new directions and dimensions.