KNOWING - Mark Cox - Poetry

5 STARS 

ABOUT THE BOOK –

Mark Cox pulls no punches in these poems about loving, drinking, traveling, and screwing up his relationships and parts of his life. “Looking back for a low point marking the worst of my insobriety, it might be that signal moment I put out my cigarette in the holy water font of St. Paul’s Catholic church, right in front of the priest. . .” Sometimes sobering, often times funny, but always honest, the poems in Knowing aim for the heart and soul of us all.

 

ABOUT THE POET/AUTHOR –

Mark Cox has authored six other volumes of poetry, the most recent being Readiness (2018) and Sorrow Bread: Poems 1984-2015 (2017). He has a forty-year history of publication in prominent magazines and his honors include a Whiting Writers Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, and The Society of Midland Authors Poetry Prize. He chairs the Department of Creative Writing at UNC Wilmington and teaches in the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA Program.

MY THOUGHTS -

A beautifully written book of poetry. Each poem paints a vivid picture. Each one tells a story. Each one stirs up some emotion, be it positive or negative.

Some of these poems were very gripping and had me sitting on the edge of my seat. While others had me in tears, either for sadness or for joy. And some of them just made me laugh out loud - 

“Susan, for instance, doesn’t want to be a horse anymore.”

Also, bonus... as an artist, I absolutely loved the cover! 

These are taken from a couple of my favorites -

Storm Front

Just outside my open window, the waters of someone’s heaven filter down through the leaves. Those voices, my children, my past – I am saturated utterly by this subtle shower, becomes sudden with grief. But just when I think I cannot bear it, the birds start to call for each other again.

In Medias Res

A girls cat steps eternally from the porch’s slab, her tail low, her right paw outstretched, the grass forever brittle with December’s cold everything at the edge of change.

This book just took me in it's arms and held me there for a bit while I enjoyed each one. 

"She can cease becoming for an afternoon and simply be."

I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this book from Poetic Book Tours and the author - Mark Cox, Thank you!