#Knowing by Mark Cox

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.

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Everything’s just peachy, comes the world report; all clear. (MUSIC BOX)

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(@Press53, 11 April 2024, e-galley, 98 pages, copy from @PoeticBookTours, #BlogTour 13 June)

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This is a new poet for me. I really enjoyed Knowing. I tend to dislike narrative poetry because it can come across as more of a short story than a poem. I like my poems to be well, poems and my stories to be stories. But I the blurb intrigued me and I read some good reviews of the poet’s other work online so decided to give Knowing a shot. Plus I liked the title. These narrative poems are definitely poems. They may look like mini stories but the imagery and language used is nothing less than poetic. Some of these poems are beautifully written and all are rich and vivid. I enjoyed every poem in this collection. I especially liked Music Box, Shelter, Creation Myth and Knowing. I’d recommend this.

4/5