We have published a new poetry book, Coiled Logic by Barry Gross.
In his first poetry collection, Barry Gross invites us into his outré world of commentary on everything from childhood memories to adolescent sex to sustained love for family, his students, and for life at large. His sensory images compel: a woman entering a bar “…walks in / parting the smoke and conversation.” To a supermarket employee “the 90-degree day [emits] a foul / Buffet of smells…,” and on a summer-day hike the speaker and his friend seek the mysterious cabin of “a Bucks County Boo Radley.” In these poems, Gross guides our eyes to fresh ways of noticing common events, which is what good poetry does. He offers his observations of life with both deadpan wit and sincere profundity, as when he muses in one poem, noting current trends of pop culture, “I wanna be hip… / [but] Do they make skinny jeans in a 42 waist?” and near the end of another, “I am content / with the purr / and curl of / the current.” A lovely line to convey the depth of this poet. You will find yourself more than content in the skill of this debut book.
—Bernadette McBride, author of Food, Wine, and Other Essential Considerations—an Alphabet
Please see the Barry Gross page on the author links above.