“God is the glue for connection and mystery in Chris Abbate’s Talk About God, a masterful debut collection. These poems are about his Catholic childhood, the yearning to break away from convention and the unyielding need for patterns to manage the unforgiving nature of life. Yet, most of all, these poems speak of the connections between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, and friends and neighbors. Abbate explores the chaos of adolescence and many years later, reflects on the breakup of his parents’ over fifty-year marriage through the exacting lens of ritual and geometry with carefully nuanced images that earn every bit of their screen time. Every poem in Talk About God reminds you to feel gratitude for the beauty of the present moment and not to forget how you can create a joyous and meaningful life.”
~ Alice Osborn, author of Heroes without Capes In Chris Abbate’s new collection, Talk About God, we find a depth of faith in everyday moments. It is found in delivering newspapers in winter and in the comfort of platters of cavatelli. Reading these artfully constructed poems, we are “waiting on gravity,” sitting on the edge of our seats for the next word – the next achingly beautiful image. These poems sing with authenticity and grace. We enter a world where, “God moves from the inside out.” ~ Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor, Blue Heron Review. Author of Still Life Stories and Amnesia and Awakenings |
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