Manuscripts

HEY THERE, PURPLE SAILOR

Hey There, Purple Sailor is a collection of poems preoccupied with the plight of the velella velella jellyfish. Colonies of velella, also known as purple sailors, float at the whim of current and wind. Having no power of motor control or gift of self-will, each sanddollar-sized galaxy-colored blob features a half-sail set at an angle biologically designed to carry them in the right direction. In good times, they are sent safely where they need to go. But climate change and its strange tides have confused the purple sailor’s relationship with the shore, increasingly pushing their colonies ashore to dry out and perish in the sun.

The 46 poems in this manuscript explore the relationship of self to shore, understanding that American sentences are long, seas are deep, and our little obsolete sails need a mighty realignment.

Read a poem from the manuscript here: Who Spoke From Then On in Fogged Clarity

Hey There, Purple Sailor was named a Semi-Finalist by the University of Wisconsin Brittingham and Felix Pollak Poetry Prizes.

SELF-PORTRAIT AS PINE BARRENS

Self-Portrait as Pine Barrens is a chapbook-length manuscript of poems exploring the mythic core of New Jersey, its haunted woods and imperiled islands. Life in Ship Bottom has never been sweeter, more buried in sand.