The Sea of Tranquility

Gordon's ( Excavations ) sixth collection is concerned with cultural morality: society's acknowledgment or abdication of its responsibility to values. The paradox of the book's title is metaphorically realized in these prosaic, imagistically simple poems. Yet, their modest construction does not conceal Gordon's ethical outrage and raw emotion that is ultimately determined to drown out social apathy, alienation and renunciation of ideals. The central tension here lies in the poet's desire to observe culture in a detached manner, on the one hand, and his responsiveness on the other. When Gordon affects the stance of impassive sage, his vision seems less honest, his ideas facile: ``Everyone is waiting /For the messiah, / Or the millennium, / Or the missiles.'' However, when he does reveal his emotional involvement in those issues that comprise his work, Gordon demonstrates his ability to express movingly both the politics, and the mystery, of commitment. (Mar.)