Kingfisher Blues: Poems

by Erik Reece

At the intersection of alcoholism and recovery, Erik Reece brings an unflinching eye and raw wit to this authentic look at one man's battle with addiction. Alternating between meditations on the natural world—from luna moths to kingfishers—and gritty snapshots of the county jail, rehab center, and people who occupy these spaces with him—from strippers to soldiers—Reece ruminates on dependence, pain, and the thin line between life and death. Evocative and unfiltered, Kingfisher Blues weaves his experiences of Montana prairies, Kentucky woods, and Cumberland creeks into stories shared with neighbors, ancestors, former friends, and enduring partners. On his complicated path to sobriety, Reece's anguish transforms into the stark revelations of a poet with "bile pumping through his blood."

Kingfisher Blues gathers intensely personal yet universal poems that boldly confront demons and deities while remaining skeptical about either's existence. By conveying the despair—and serenity—found in the loneliness of the woods and tackling the frank reality of self-acceptance in the face of ugly truths, this collection offers a visceral encounter with the intertwined forces of nature, human struggle, and redemption.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[Dylan Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not as well-versed in poetry as I’d like to be, but my impression is that this collection spits fire and plays lonely melodies that reverberate around in the soul. A distillation of and discourse on one man’s pain and growth, spread out to think on the wider conditions of humanity and our wonderful earth.

Trying to find the right balance of what masculinity should be in our time is tricky, but there’s a lot in here that curses machismo for its own sake while holding intestinal fortitude up as a value for all. To have the courage to be this honest and vulnerable is a powerful thing, to take stock of things unobscured and uninhibited is a hard-won skill.

Words to live by and cling to, thermal currents to buoy yourself up in the air like I’ve found in Whitman. A place to be in your entirety, a place to rest by the river.

[Lydia Pack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put the book down - powerful and beautiful in many ways.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poet’s masochistic self-abuse and slow suicide by alcohol is as difficult to stomach as that “faux elixir (otherwise known as Polish vodka),” but the truth is at the bottom of the glass—or that deep, emerald eddy where the trout are said to be rising.

Favorite Poems:
“Luna Moths”
“Black Veil”
“The River”
“Loner”
“Narcissism”
“The Art of Living”
“Translating Sappho While Listening to Billie Holiday”
“Hypaethral”
“The Rising”
“Flight”
“What I Learned from Marcus Aurelius”
“Attitude of Gratitude”
“Mast Year”

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep, tender, funny, crushing, and philosophical work of art. It strives for empathy toward self and others. A phenomenal collection of poems I will keep coming back to.

[Rebecca Frodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

My father was an alcoholic. Witnessing his slow, and then incredibly fast, death was brutal. I see him in the pages of these poems and it makes me weep.