SOURCE: A review of Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems, in Library Journal, Vol. 118, No. 5, March 15, 1993, p. 81.

[Below, Moore favorably reviews Neon Vernacular.]

[Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems] is comprised of poems from seven of Komunyakaa's previous collections. A master at interweaving memory and history to shape his experiences into narratives, Komunyakaa enriches his poems with details: "His fingernails are black / & torn from blows, / as if the hammer / declares its own angle of reference." Music has its special force with a rhythm that seems to enforce meaning: "Heartstring. Blessed wood / and every moment the thing's made of / ball of fatback / licked by fingers of fire." As an African American, Komunyakaa defines a culture with striking imagery that is often misunderstood by mainstream readers.