Chris Dean's brilliant second book of poetry focuses on the stories that make each of us who we are, the stories that connect us.
A Debt of Words
I don't want anything from poetry,
I want to give back to it.
I want to speak balms
and antidotes
that comfort and heal,
sing connections
and write repairs
so we all feel less alone,
blaze paths
and clear overgrowth
so others can find their way.
I don't want anything from poetry.
I'd rather write to repay
the debt of words I owe
to those who have done
the same for me.
****
One morning, years ago, as I drove my giant tractor across a coal barren wilderness,
working for Kentucky Reclamation, reclaiming strip mined lands, I prayed for a miracle,
a sign of hope to show me I was on the right path, finding a way to survive, helping to heal
the earth, and live free as a rebel poet. As I prayed I looked up and there was a white dove
flying six feet above my head. That's how Chris Dean's poems arrived from out of the blue.
Miracles, prayers answered. Poems from the creative forces of the universe channeled
through the pages of WE'RE ALL STORIES in THE END. Chris Dean's poems are diamonds.
Chris Dean is a new voice to be reckoned with. WE'RE ALL STORIES in THE END is a masterpiece.
Ron Whitehead, U.S. National Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate
