When I began writing Apeirogon, I had a feeling that it would extend itself into the world. Like Rami and Bassam, I didn't want the story to end. I wanted it to become a sort of Scheherazade tale, a ruse in the face of death, an ongoing celebration of life, a song. I wanted a musician to create his or her own apeirogon. I wanted a poet to create his or her own shape. I wanted a reader to do it too. In other words, I wanted Abir and Smadar to be entirely alive in the vast expanse of us all. Darrell Bourque's poems have extended the apeirogon and given even further life to Abir and Smadar. I am stunned and humbled that a poet of such stature would take my words and shape them into something so new and beautiful–something, in fact, profoundly more beautiful. I read these poems, one a day, over the course of weeks–and they gave great grace to my days.–Colum McCann
