Poetry. An obsessive perfectionist, Samuel Andreyev inhabits several worlds: he writes in English while living in France; he is an internationally known composer, performer, and teacher; and he is an experimental poet who documents words, phrases, and rhetorical devices while staying true to the fundamental tools of classical poetry. THE RELATIVISTIC EMPIRE, Andreyev's second poetry collection, combines the brevity and lightness of a comic strip with the complexity and richness of French symbolist poetry. Spare, yet rich with meaning; suggesting narrative, while forcefully pushing away from it--these poems strive for an edgy involvement with the world and language. Only a poet straddling borders of sound and sense could achieve this.