New Book of Poetry from Pski’s Press, via Minnesota…

Bereft & the Same-Sex Heart, Samuel E. Cole.

127 Pages — $13

ISBN-13: 978-0997870633
ISBN-10: 099787063X

In <i>Bereft & the Same Sex Heart</i>, his first collection of poetry, Samuel E. Cole’s concerns range from growing up gay in a conservative Christian community to the difficulties of domesticating love, from the starkly political to the deeply intimate, and from formally innovative to searingly emotional poetics, often within the same page. Cole’s work is dizzying in the best sense of the word, exploring new love, old scars, rage, and acceptance in equal measure.

At its heart, Bereft & The Same-Sex Heart restores balance to imbalance, whether inherent, precarious, familial, societal, political, or religious. Equilibrium is redistributed. Tension rises and suspension falls. Private thoughts, secret desires, and risky missteps take love, loss, and disappointment on a redemption-seeking journey.

WE ALL REACH

deterioration

says a shrinking oak leaf
severed from its branch.

displacement

says a fray-winged jaybird
culled from its flock.

disillusionment

says a wilting-yellow mimulus
transplanted from its root.

desertion

says a tainted memory collector
faded from its photograph.