This is a book-length thesis work of poetry.

A collection of poetry.

The poems in this collection speak of a historical, cultural and personal past through a wide range of speakers who resurrect narratives that are both domestic and historical in their scope. The collection engages in archetype and myth, traveling through time and the world, with many of the poems set in places outside of the United States, including Haiti, India, and Sri Lanka. In essence, the collection seeks to explore why must human suffering be endured in such various and bewildering ways, and why has history and the quest for social justice been so inadequate in answering this plea.

One of the most meaningful duties of poetry is to examine small moments in life—the fleeting, the transitory, the quotidian—and make them sacred. Its title derived from a conflation of the colloquialism “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” Horse Grenade is concerned with questions of identity and proximity—physical, mental, and emotional—which weave themselves throughout my work. I am intrigued by the fluctuating correlation between spiritual closeness and temporal distance, the way it defies definition and logic. In an effort to address this phenomenon, I immerse the reader into foreign cultures and the frequently extreme circumstances of everyday life. In doing so, I seek invention, but also return to familial relationships and personal experience, ranging from rediscovering my heritage to my father breaking into nuclear power plants. My intention as a poet is to make honest and unique observations, developing them into a deeper understanding.

The following is a collection of works of fiction set mostly in Western Kentucky, with one short story taking place in Richmond, Virginia, in the year 2063. No characters in this collecting of fiction is meant to depict any real, live person, and no setting is meant to portray an existing place on earth. These works were written between February, 2012, and April, 2014.

Poetry

An original poetry collection.

This creative thesis explores identity and family.

No description available.

N/A