Dru Dougherty

In the Quick of Time Dru Dougherty

In his essay "The Poetry of the Present," D. H. Lawrence states, "The quivering nimble hour of the present, this is the quick of Time ... The quick of the universe is the pulsating, carnal self, mysterious and palpable."

In the Quick of Time echoes Lawrence's placement of the writer in time, and the poems of this collection strive to catch the fullness of a self at once "mysterious and palpable." These verses speak of tensions that reflect the planet we all inhabit while they revel in art's playful reordering of the found world. Irony and ellipsis abound in these pages, along with a passion for rhyme, alliteration, and imagery. In keeping with the self's mutability, the collection offers a variety of poetic forms, some as classic as the sonnet and others as contemporary as graphic verse.

This collection of poetry engages the human struggle with time, explores the flux of identity, and considers various conflicts of our world.