Sea Snails on a Black Chow's Tongue

At the conclusion of Keith Harvey's novel Cave Gossip the protagonist recites an aphorism: being in being is. Sea Snails on a Black Chow's Tongue explores the meaning of this aphorism. The poems in this collection then deal with man's basic aloneness in being; a castaway if you will in his own existence.<p>Poet <br>He sat and read<br>his primal poems<br>on a wooden stool<br>carved from pine.<br>His lips purpled<br>as he scanned<br>primordial words<br>and his tongue<br>shadowed<br>like a chow's.