History Is History

Prolific author and poet T. Kudla (who also publishes as Thomas Kudla and Thom Kudla) turns his layered imagination to American history in his latest HISTORY IS HISTORY: A Short-Short Reimagining of the U.S.A.  The book is a collection of poems and prose poems focusing on specific events that shaped the United States and what is thought of as the nation’s soul and the ideas for which it supposedly stands. But what if things happened differently? What if there’s a different lens through which to view events? If one thread of the tapestry was tweaked, how would it change everything? What if the British didn’t come, and it was a midnight ride for pleasure? What if 9/11 never happened? What about the individual stories of those lost during the Trail of Tears? What if it made more sense to surrender and live than to die at the Alamo? The spare prose evokes specific imagery and layers of nuance and subtext. Each piece should be savored and revisited, as each re-read reveals a fresh facet of thought and possibility. Kudla’s work is always inventive, complex, and subtle, and his latest collection is beautiful, poignant, provocative, and insightful.