I Love Information: Poems

I Love Information by Courtney Bush is a collection of poems that explore knowledge, belief, and the relationship between them. The poems operate under unique logic systems that grow and branch like vines, driven by the urge to learn and the need for connection. Bush's speakers make cognitive leaps with youthful credulity, eager and open, and her reverence for the act of thought echoes that of a religious scholar gazing at the heavens. To learn, we must believe the not-known is worth knowing and let belief hover around all parts of our lives, as a child does.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 96 pages
Publication date: 05 October 2023
Publisher: Milkweed Editions

I Love Information, a poem selected by Brian Teare as the winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series, delves into a sophisticated and cerebral exploration of knowledge, belief, and the interconnectedness of these elements. The poem opens with a series of sensory images, including egret feathers, pulverized chickpeas, and a faint but constant series of ovals and lines that, remarkably, spell the name Penelope. Courtney Bush, the poet, acknowledges that nobody owns the definitive meaning of these objects, but she relentlessly seeks to uncover hidden meanings within them. Instead of seeking factual information, Bush seeks something transcendent and mysterious, knowledge that can only be unlocked through experimentation with language and art.

Bush's poems operate under unique logic systems that grow and branch like vines, driven not only by the urge to learn but also by the need for connection. Her speakers make cognitive leaps with youthful credulity, eager and open. They explore the pathways between our outer and inner worlds, acting as translators between what is and what could be. Bush's reverence for the act of thought echoes that of a religious scholar gazing at the heavens. In order to learn, these poems suggest, we must believe that the unknown is worth knowing. We must let belief hover around all parts of our lives, as a child does. "To have the idea of the secret chord is to have the secret chord," Bush writes. To learn, we must make believe.

Through her poetic exploration, Bush invites us to reconsider our relationship with knowledge and belief. She challenges us to look beyond the surface and seek deeper meanings in the world around us. Her poems remind us that language and art have the power to unlock the mysteries of existence and that learning is a lifelong journey of discovery. "I Love Information" is a testament to the power of poetry to inspire, challenge, and transform our understanding of the world.

Dimension: 215 x 139 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781639550036