[caption id="attachment_1205" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Ennui Prophet, poems by Christopher Kennedy"][/caption] Christopher Kennedy's "The Fact Remains" has been selected as this week's Poem of the Week by The Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre! The prose poem comes from his fourth poetry collection Ennui Prophet. "I’m heavier than some animals, lighter than others. Also, I’m more threatening than most animals, less threatening than a few; faster than some, slower than most. I don’t bite, though, unless provoked by desire. What I want to say is: I still measure distance in years. And swans mate for life. At least that’s what I believe. I want a pair of somethings to refer to when I’m trying to make a point. The point is this: I’m an animal who knows where he stands among other animals. I can outrun a snail and threaten a housefly. I can conquer an anthill and mate for life. But the fact remains: My favorite dog has bitten the entire neighborhood. Here, boy, I say, but he ignores me, intent on running down another frightened child on a bicycle. He’s mangy too. His collar’s too tight, and there’s no quenching his thirst. Raw meat’s the answer, but I’m too lazy to go to the store. This is the story of a boy and his dog. Though as far as I can tell, the dog ran off a long time ago." Of Kennedy and his latest collection Ennui Prophet, Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre says: " The poems in Ennui Prophet, Christopher Kennedy’s fourth collection, range from deeply personal explorations of relationships with family and friends to examinations of the political climate in the first decade of the millennium. Whether personal or public, Kennedy gazes through a slightly distorted lens to better see the world around us." And check this out! Here's a playlist that Kennedy put together to accompany his book. Cool, huh? Get your copy of Ennui Prophet, or his earlier collection Encouragement for a Man Falling to His Death, at the BOA Bookstore.