"In Residuum, Martin Rock creates the illusion of an enormous mind always in motion. "Meditating on the peak of a mountain last year / years ago // I held all the universe inside my skull," it informs us, suggesting both the intimacy and vastness of its vision. At times, these poems appear to live beyond the range of any individual, as if Emerson's Oversoul spoke directly to, and through, us--though just as quickly they become intimate and human, whispering softly into our ears. Always, Rock's observations, subtractions, and revisions fascinate, disrupting any clean, centered view of the world, replacing it with brilliant abstraction."
Kevin Prufer, author of The Fears