Castles and Tents

In 2001, poet Anselm Hollo wrote, "With humor, tenderness, and surprising candor, Roxie Powell ventures into rarely visited territory to an ever-questioning mind." In his newest collection, Roxie keeps questioning, this time considering the connection between love and pain--and how one can rarely exist without the other.

Letters Like Lettuce Gone Soggy with Pain

One realizes that each life

is a slippery vessel which glides

through pain until it reaches

some shore.

At which time tents are erected,

sometimes castles,

and for some moments, all is fine.

Old letters remind one

that life will have its way,

neither your castle nor your tent

are sufficient to protect you,

Only love has a chance.

This book pulls together a wide variety of Powell's poetry, the majority of which has never been published before. Most were written over the past twenty-five years, with the exception of a handful, which were written this year, such as "Kansas Soliloquy" and "Turkestan." For Powell, the journey of life is illuminated by love, and emotional pain is native to the process.