“Onto the frozen corpses of sled dogs and giraffes, Haller layers observations and associations in a sort of verbal over-painting. The result: dense works that tap into a vibrant, living art.”
– here] Magazine

“Haller’s poetry effortlessly takes the reader to another place and time, letting them share in the thoughts and actions of his subjects. … And as with any good poetry, Song of the Taxidermist awards those who read it more than once.”
– Scene

“What are poems if not houses? Aurian Haller ponders in Song of the Taxidermist. Certainly his are spaces to dwell in, but further, they “house” evocative installations of found objects chosen to find or re-arrange us. In this living museum, Haller exhibits poems of such inviting mystery. I know I’ll visit often.”
“Haller’s poetry resonates with beauty’s subjectivity, the ephemeral lean of a basement plant toward the light, the ur-dream the artist struggles to disassemble. From Rauschenberg’s goat to taxidermists’ philosophy, these poems roam through our collective desire to tilt the world into something that shines, something that burnishes the lawn with dewy hoof prints and over-exposure.”
“Reading the title sequence when it first appeared three years ago triggered waves of admiration that still resonate, and this collection renews their intensity. The poems wow with their flawless skins, masterfully assembled skeletons, and intelligent conception and curation, then unsettle as Haller’s probings transform the seen and the studied into the unexpected.”