My pal John Sibley Williams has a new book coming out. He’s published a bunch of chapbooks, but this one is his debut book-length collection of poems, Controlled Hallucinations.
I know John, and we’ve talked about his poetry before. He’s a bit of a classicist, not in any formal sense but in the sense that he eschews “raw” and “edgy” in favor of intimacy and reflection. Or, as the press release from FutureCycle Press puts it: his poetry “weaves universal themes and images with the basic human reality of touch, word, and what is lost in their translation.”
Take these lines from poem IV:
There’s no pattern to our astonishment.
Birds don’t know
the weight placed on them.
They look down and see
us looking up.That is all it takes
when there is no gravity
but flight
and falling.
It’s a beautiful first book from a terrific poet, and you should order a copy.
You can thank me after you’ve read it.
Samuel Snoek-Brown 
Looks like a fairly together guy all round – I have just had a brief meander through his blog.
By the way, pre-launch signed copies of my new poetry book (entirely new poetry) are now available – a bit pricey, but that’s the cost of P&P. 😦
http://bookseeker.webs.com/forsale.htm
And I’ve taken the plunge and am on twitter @MairibheagM
M
Ooh, good to know about your book, Marie! Have you already sent me promo info? I’ll do a post about yours soon, too. 🙂
I’m not sure. I think I must have mentioned it, being a shameless self-publicist. As soon as it goes live on the publisher’s web site, I’ll let you know. It was supposed to be this month, but there is very little of ‘this month’ left. I’ll also sort out a pdf review copy for you. Keep reminding me by email – I have a memory like a sieve.