Castles and Tents

<p>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.</p><p>Letters Like Lettuce Gone Soggy with Pain</p><p>One realizes that each life</p><p>is a slippery vessel which glides</p><p>through pain until it reaches</p><p>some shore.</p><p>At which time tents are erected</p><p>sometimes castles</p><p>and for some moments all is fine.</p><p>Old letters remind one</p><p>that life will have its way</p><p>neither your castle nor your tent</p><p>are sufficient to protect you</p><p>Only love has a chance.</p><p>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.</p>