Skies of Blur, Burrell’s third collection, navigates the depths of human connection and disconnection, love and loss, and the spaces between. Burrell breathes life into every line, crafting a world both familiar and entirely new.
While guiding us quietly between the realms of the natural and supernatural, these poems remind us of the chaos and uncertainty of modern life. Through metaphors of spinning plates and broken umbrellas, Burrell captures the delicate balance we all strive to maintain and the challenges we face in a seemingly incurable world. This blurring world demands we pay attention and stay vigilant at all costs. Burrell’s poems deal with the struggle between our past and present selves. As only miracles and poems can, Skies of Blur brings the dead back to life and awakens memories of days long gone.
Throughout the collection, Burrell introduces us to a cast of unforgettable characters, like Mr. Night, the bull who inexplicably materializes, speaks, and serves as both adversary and ally. As the collection progresses, Mr. Night engages in a series of surreal encounters, challenging the reader to question the nature of identity and the boundaries between our inner and outer worlds. In other poems, Burrell showcases an uncommon ability to infuse absurd narratives with tragedy and joy, as when a man longing for connection steals a horn shark from a local aquarium.
This collection proclaims that each of us strays into unknowable places. Wildflowers will fall from our gaping wounds. We may never know our multitudinous selves, or we might meet them to destroy them. Prepare to be moved and challenged as you look up into the deep, dark Skies of Blur.
