It's been said that a book of poetry is like a cave, filled with surprises for the curious reader. PROXIES is such a book. In it, curious reader, you will find a new form of poetry, the haikumo, modeled on the haiku, but with a larger canvas. A mini-epic, on the other hand, offers a socio-political slam by means of a compact take on past epics. Or, you may visit aspects of France and China and rural Arkansas, reimagine a Renaissance painting, dabble in scientific and philosophic speculation, and return via formal and free verse to aspects of our shared world. The world is your oyster back where the text waits, eager for you to read, enjoy, and, at times, take issue with the circus of serious and comic poetry Stuart Jay Silverman calls PROXIES.