Shadowboxing

by Mark Gibbons

"Mark Gibbons is a social critic who is angry at the world's injustice in all its complicated forms and who speaks from experience. Shadowboxing contains poems that address the boom-and-bust dysfunction of the West, the hypocrisy and consumerism of contemporary society, and the gun culture that damages so many lives in the U.S. In counterpoint, he celebrates momentary pleasures, argues "that we best/ Honor being alive by living, / By paying attention and loving / Our breath, the air-being here." At the center of this volume are a series of poems honoring the legendary Ed Lahey, whom Gibbons calls "The King of Poetry," and woven throughout this work is the question of poetry itself-how we understand it and how we value it, or not.
The term shadowboxing implies awareness of the present, preparation for what lies immediately ahead, and the practice that maintains a fighter's rhythm. Gibbons' rhythm, both earthy and elegant in this volume, is well-suited to the task."-
Tami Haaland-Montana Poet Laureate and author of
When We Wake in the Night

105 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Mark Gibbons is a poet who lives in Missoula. He has BAs in English and Psychology and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Montana.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

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