In music, “counterpoint,” or “contrapuntal” in the adjectival form, refers to the relationship between two independent melodies that sound harmonious when played simultaneously. The poems in Christopher Kondrich’s first collection allude to contrapuntal composition by sustaining two voices and two distinct, but overlapping narratives. As described by Mark Strand in Boston Review, the first is allegorical, in which a piano-playing guru, a pharmaceutical cure-all, and the laboratory where it’s produced are all elements in the formation of a self seeking unity. The other concerns two versions of a self—past and present—who merge in the voice of the poet. As it dismantles the wholeness of life to create the wholeness of art, CONTRAPUNTAL presents readers with a unique, challenging experience.
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