Crucial Sprawl feedback from one of my college English professors, Dr. Richard Gillin

"The poems are energized, intense, and demanding. I tried to hear your voice in them as I read, and the combination of my memory of your voice , its cadences, power, and irony in conjunction with the written poems helps to open them and to grasp at some of the threads that run through them. Sound dominates. There is a percussive run in many, and a lash in others. On the surface I sense irony, bewilderment at times, anger, sarcasm, and ultimately hope.  The core of what you present is a sensitive evocation of now. The country is increasingly moving in radical directions politically and culturally as people search for some sense of direction. Your poems capture the painful uncertainty  that comes with significant transitions, and they develop and ironic sense of desire to hold onto old myths or at least perceptions of order. On the one hand the old stories are seen for what they are, but their loss creates a vacuum.  The sense of hope and a will to make sense out of contemporary existence inheres in the most turbulent poems. So for all the shattering of the static and distractions of the moment you create a strong voice with a latent hope for something approaching meaning. Keep writing, and maintain your critical and sharp eye for those telling details."

Wanna download an mp3 of me reading some poems from my forthcoming book? Cop it here, at the very top of the page.

It's been 30-45 days since I've had the wherewithall and focus to complete a poem.

I'm probably due, right?

I've submitted some recent unpublished work to various literary magazines, though - hopefully something strikes someone's fancy, somewhere.

And: Crucial Sprawl is coming. Promise. Soon: save your pennies!

Get ready.