Before the Grave

Before the Grave a posthumous selection of poems by D.S. Poorman is about the nature of control and freedom. It asks and answers the question How free are people really? D.S. fought against being controlled in every aspect of his life and this fight is reflected in poems about sexual abuse alcoholism recovery lost loves struggles to know ones family struggles with mental illness and battles with physical health and his belief that society wished to regulate a persons time actions thoughts and morals. Amidst this constraints D.S. found freedom in nature. He especially loved rivers plants trees and small animals. And he found freedom in night (2 a.m. dark) his mothers love meditation and finally he found freedom in death. D.S. Poorman the pen name of David Scott Baker published three novels during his life Macky Dunns Got Nothing to Lose (1999) Once Removed (2011) and Somewhere Theres A Place (2014). A woodcraftsman and a book smith D.S. designed and crafted wooden books including The Largest Poetry Book in the World and The Book of America (an unfinished project that was to collect handwritten poems by poets across the country). Many of his wooden books have been collected by University of Louisvilles Ekstrom Library Rare Book Collection. In 2001 D.S. and Kent Fielding produced and hosted Insomniacathon 2001 the largest music/poetry festival in Kentucky history lasting over 82 non-stop hours and featuring over 150 poets and 100 bands. The festival raised money for the Franciscan Shelter House in downtown Louisville. D.S. and Kent Fielding also edited The Book of Kentucky (2001) a large metal book weighting twenty pounds containing handwritten poems by many of Kentuckys best- known writers. The Book of Kentucky is also housed at Ekstrom Library.