My Mother's Hands

In this, Cory Brown's sixth volume of poetry, he runs the gamut of philosophical speculation from the meaning of early family experiences raising cattle to more abstract thoughts on reality and the passing of time. Some poems aspire to wed the beauty of language with that of the natural world, occasionally by way of a Romantic aesthetic and at other times by way of a postmodern process, following the self-reflective dictates of his mind as it associates its way down the page. And down the page is where the poems venture into whatever tonal avenue offers itself, wry humor, painful lament, exuberant celebration. These poems are musical, smart, sometimes narrative, sometimes funny, and always deeply contemplative. Included in the collection are over a dozen poems published in reputable literary magazines, such as Nimrod, Cloudbank, december, and LitMag. LitMag awarded one of the poems, "Giant Sequoias," a runner-up prize in their annual flash fiction competition, a poem that it could be said serves as the centerpiece to the volume, as it grounds the collection in an expression of empathy for all those who've experienced tragedy in their lives. The poem is set against the backdrop of a volume of poems expressing their love and appreciation for lost loved ones as well as for the natural world in our--and in particular Brown's--everyday life.