Confessional, a Collection of Poems by Fletch Fletcher
Fletcher’s newest anthology delves into the darker, more personal aspects of the psyche. Explore the hidden admissions in this public ‘Confessional’, encounter truths that many would rather leave unsaid, and discover the joys that are often concealed just as deeply as the pains.
“We are creatures of secrets,” Fletch Fletcher declares, with each page of this collection serving as a “space of white / that is my confessional.” These personal reflections on a father’s absence, “the impotence of prayer,” and the isolation felt by outsiders, imagining “the sound the sky made / when it first saw the ocean fill itself” and “dawn through ruffled eggshell drapes,” draw from both the Beat generation’s ethos and the tempestuous romanticism of Goethe. Fletcher leans into affirmation, reminiscing about “untilled plains, / clean and free / of headstones” while accepting that “confession and storytelling are both true / to the soul if not always / to the tongue.” Confessional is a collection that is simultaneously raw and tenderly poignant. —Michael Waters, author of Caw
In the frank openness of ‘Confessional’, Fletch Fletcher reveals a heart almost extinguished by myths of masculinity, gauges the heaviness of hereditary ties, unveils the solitude of depression, and depicts how the self can be an ocean that replenishes itself, that breathes in primal fear and shame and then exhales a tempest // into other lungs. Indeed, these poems are ones whose evidence transforms breath; approach them with a pen poised. Fletcher excavates truths from the salt-soaked earth of buried awareness and asks both himself and the reader: Do you remember how you felt / when your skin was open sky, / untilled plains, / clean and free / of headstones? I am excited for you to engage with this book. —Darla Himeles, author of Cleave
Fletch Fletcher has employed a deeply personal and soul-shaking format, the confessional, to translate the raw essence of existence into poetry. “…it must be true first that confession is an energy before you / can understand how laws work…so I marked and measured and buried mine / let them seep slowly.” You are about to experience the writings of a poet who senses profoundly; a poet dedicated to the shadow work of digging deep and bringing to light to craft poetry that is ecstatic in its clarity. —Roberto Carlos Garcia, author of What Can I Tell You? Selected Poems (Flowersong Press)
Presales continue until June 28th via www.Fletcherpoet.com or www.Finishinglinepress.com. The book will be released on August 23rd.