“politically charged investigation raises the stakes of poetry for both the poet (as producer) and the poem (as art object). this type of poetry not only invokes the bardic practice of speaking the wisdom of the group, but also uses the poem as a type of activism. when critics question the role of poetry in the real world or what it can accomplish outside of its own existence, activist poetics that enters conversation with contemporary political happenings offers one of the better answers. this activist poetry can reveal knowledge about real happenings through the conceptual relationship between the real and the world of art.” —steve halle, a review of “war rug,” jacket2