The The Big Rip

THE BIG RIP is a theory of the universe's end when all
matter disintegrates into elementary particles as the universe
expands and rips apart. In these deeply material poems,
Andy Brown engages with such cyclical images of growth
and decay, and traces of presence and absence, exploring the
gaps we find between ourselves and the world - gaps that
resonate with wonder and dis/belief.
Arranged into five suites of poems, the personal pieces in
The Family Whistle uncover family traces in photos, objects,
sayings and sounds, while those in the second, Dragonflies at
Le Pré, reflect the book's themes through the experiences of
a life lived between Brittany and Devon. Other poems dwell
outside in the environment, especially on rivers and
shorelines in Some Sayings About the River, or reflect an

abiding interest in ecology and the inhabitants of the non-
human world, in the fourth suite, Murmurations. In the title

section, The Big Rip, the poems converge again around
themes of presence and absence to reflect on one of the
book's recurring themes: how to reconcile a sense of
transcendence in a postreligious world.
Throughout, these poems pay homage to literary traces,
traditions, and influences, including versions of French
poems by Verlaine, Spanish poems by Borges, episodes from
Homer and Ovid, or poems written in response to the
works of others. The book begins with a whistle shaped by
the lips and ends with an affirmative image of lips framing
the word 'Yes' - in between, all is breath.