Thoughts & Prayers

by Owen Elphick

In his debut collection of poetry, Thoughts & Prayers, Owen Elphick tackles the sensitive subject of gun control and violence in the United States with grace and wisdom. His collection, noteworthy in its variety of poetic styles, takes its time to allow readers to feel these difficult emotions mature throughout the collection.

“Emotionally searching, historically and formally attuned, Thoughts & Prayers makes moving poetry out of America’s grievous addiction to gun violence, “bullets loosed... to claim a promised land in the flesh.” Owen Elphick is a poet of ambitious imagination and empathy, of real and substantial gifts.” —Daniel Tobin

“With textured language and an adept use of line, Thoughts & Prayers confronts the epidemic of gun violence in America through poems that fiercely and courageously imagine us into the roles of perpetrator, witness, and victim... Owen Elphick’s voice is sensitive and assured; his poems ambitious and accomplished.” —Christine Casson

92 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 2019

Reviews

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully wrought and haunting, this sequence holds a special place in my heart. Its poems paint a picture of how guns permeate our culture like their bullets permeate flesh, how devastating they can be. But on top of that, this sequence is about white masculinity and a boy’s relationship to violence, and the form reckoning with violence takes for the speaker. I would make this collection required reading. Oh, and it’s devastatingly sad.