A.S. Coomer's Blog, page 8

Where Can We Grow If Not the Garden (Invasive Blues) video

Here’s a video of me out in the woods reading Where Can We Grow If Not the Garden (Invasive Blues).

This poem is included in my Gutter Snob Books collection SONGS FOR LEAVING, which is out now.

Signed Paperback – SONGS FOR LEAVING

$15 includes shipping in the USofA. *cat not included**these poems cat approved

$15.00

Click here to purchase.

existential motion sickness, a highway lullaby

This poem, existential motion sickness, a highway lullaby, is included in my Gutter Snob Books poetry collection SONGS FOR LEAVING, which is out now.

Here are some links for checking out the audio version of the poem/song.

Apple Music

HyperFollow

Bandcamp

Amazon Music

If ya liked what ya heard/saw consider picking up a signed copy of the paperback.

Signed Paperback Copy of A.S. Coomer’s SONGS FOR LEAVING (Gutter Snob Books 2022)

$15 gets you a signed paperback copy of A.S. Coomer’s 2022 Gutter Snob Books poetry collection SONGS FOR LEAVING shipped to yer door (USA ONLY–overseas peeps shoot me a message).

$15.00

Click here to purchase.

Thanks for looking/listening.

-A.S. Coomer

SONGS Winter 2022/23 Mini-Tour Recap

Put some miles on the tires & slung some poems in the past couple of weeks in support of SONGS FOR LEAVING (Gutter Snob Books 2022). I had the great privilege of reading with many unbelievably talented poets & writers. I got to swap songs with some of the best Midwest songsters. I got to reconnect with dear friends. Made some new ones. Read poems in all sorts of different venues: libraries, bookshops, bars, breweries, & restaurants. Had an intimate living room reading. Met a beautiful shop cat. Even sold some books. They say life a trip, what a trip.

Thank you to every one of you who leant me your attention. You made all those speed check puckers worth while. All those blurred miles & gas pump fill-ups. End Time billboards & truckers slowing up the passing lane. I’m honored to have had the opportunity to share these words with y’all.

Big thanks to Aaron Hawkins & Flywheel Brewing, Wesley Johnson & the Daviess County Public Library, Cal Freeman & Pages Bookshop, Denise Phillips & Gathering Volumes, Jonie McIntire & the Attic on Adams, & Jonathan S. Baker, C.S. Mathews, Tim Heerdink, & Bokeh Lounge. Thank you so much for giving me the space & time to share these songs. It means the world to me.

Here’s a massive photo dump. These photos were taken by Miriam Wagoner, C.S. Matthews, Jodie Summers, Andrea Myers, Tanasio, Rachel Coomer, Nicholas Hall, Dee Brown, Todd Elson, & myself, in no particular order.

at the Attic, Toledo, Ohio Ben Stalets, Todd Elson, & me at the Attic, Toledo, Ohio Miriam Wagoner & me at the Attic C.S. Mathews at Bokeh Lounge, Evansville, IN Arnold Koester at the Attic Arizona at Bokeh at Flywheel Brewing, Elizabethtown, KY at Gathering Volumes, Perrysburg, OH at Gathering Volumes, Perrysburg, OH at the Attic, Toledo, OH at the Attic, Toledo, OH at the Attic at the Attic at the Attic at the Attic at Gathering Volumes, Perrysburg, OH at the Attic at the Attic at the Attic at the Attic at the Attic at the Attic at Bokeh Lounge, Evansville, IN Jodie Summers, Jonie McIntire, & me at the Attic Jonathan S. Baker at Bokeh Lounge Jonie McIntire at the Attic Joseph Fulkerson at Bokeh Lounge Dee Brown, Ryan Roth, me, Todd Elson, & Vester Frey Tanasio at the Attic Tim Heerdink at Bokeh Lounge Denise Phillips, Kerry Trautman, & me at Gathering Volumes Andrea Myers and me at Gathering Volumes Dee Brown & me Cal Freeman at Pages Bookshop Vester Frey Ryan Roth Shawntai Brown at Pages Bookshop Todd Elson

Signed Paperback Copy of A.S. Coomer’s SONGS FOR LEAVING (Gutter Snob Books 2022)

$15 includes shipping in the US.

$15.00

Click here to purchase.

SONGS FOR LEAVING Winter 2023 Mini-Tour

SONGS FOR LEAVING (Gutter Snob Books) is out. I’m gonna hit the road to do a little book peddling & poetry reading. Might sling a song or two, who knows.

Thursday (1/12/23): Pages Bookshop (Detroit, MI) with Cal Freeman & Shawntai Brown.

https://fb.me/e/3gLUVc8bK

Friday (1/13/23): Gathering Volumes (Perrysburg, OH) with Kerry Trautman.

https://fb.me/e/2czApoXBK

Saturday (1/14/23): The Attic On Adams (Toledo, OH) with Child of the System-Jodie L Summers & Kay Renee.

https://fb.me/e/2n3hADGKi

Tuesday (1/17/23): Bokeh Lounge (Evansville, IN) with Joseph Fulkerson.

Sunday (2/5/23): Flywheel Brewing (Elizabethtown, KY) hosting their poetry open mic.

More dates tba.

Follow ascoomer dot com for updates.

SONGS FOR LEAVING, A.S. COOMER–SIGNED

$15 includes US shipping. *Cat not included.

$15.00

Click here to purchase.

Buy the high-quality audiotracks & signed paperback at A.S. Coomer’s Bandcamp Page.

Songs for Leaving is the latest collection of poems from prolific writer and musician A.S. Coomer. “Be the damn after every God,” he advises, “. . . make a big stink.” Lots of great verbal pictography here, each piece distilled and presented in exact, precise language. Growing gardens of hope in the heart, and where else can we grow, after all, ache like bulb near bloom, hollowed out by a deeper need? With night blues looming over it all, as the televised sky screams the screech of bombs, as we viewers feign calm, numbed by numberless views of the same unfeeling broadcast, beholden to the lows by our spectation through thin hard glass walls of screens on our phones and computers, miles and miles of wires between us and the action, & here come the End Times, fa la la.

“Songs For Leaving is a phenomenal collection crackling gems of vast expansion when “you can’t live small enough to escape all light,” yet “trauma can’t be stolen.” Coomer’s brilliance radiates a live wire of infused turbulence and musicality into the searing myriad of his haunting poems. Absolutely mesmerizing and unstoppable! Get a copy! Inspiring and life-altering. LOVE!”

—Meg Tuite, author of White Van

”The wizened intricacy of Coomer leaps from the page, with lines like “…Understand something will always be lost/ In translation.” There is musicality in Songs For Leaving, the poet wending his path, attempting to make sense of the inherent seeming madness. These poems ache and break, trembling and their urgency is weighted with the human inescapability of life.”

—Robert Vaughan, author of Askew

“Songs for Leaving is so goddamned good that it transcends the genre of poetry and enters the realms of good fucking art. Coomer weaves melody and harmony into poetry so beautiful that a reader almost forgets they’re reading about war, erosion, climate change, love, life, loss, and the big bad nothing. Like all great maestros, he turns war into sonnets, and pain into hymns that make it all almost tolerable. This is what poetry is. What it’s supposed to be. Goddamn.”

—Dan Denton, author of $100-A-Week Motel

“A.S. Coomer’s poems trace the “receding stygian tide kept barely at bay,” but he’s not in the business of delineating spiritual doom and lived experience. This poetry seeks to invent new phrasings that we might utter or listen to as we “count the hours by the silt rings.” “Despite it all: / make, do, see / if you’re able” Coomer implores us. These Songs For Leaving are outboard lyrics engineered to propel us around liminal island, “greasy hullaballoos… electric fangs rending neon flesh.” I know Coomer’s readers will find this chapbook a welcome addition to his polymathic catalogue. It’s hard not to fall in.”

—Cal Freeman, author of Poolside at the Dearborn Inn

RIP 2022

Happy New Year, y’all.

2022, that decade we all just made it through by the skin of our teeth, is over.

I got up to some thangs:

In the Mower’s Wake: my creative nonfiction piece about a robotic lawn mower was published in the Spring Issue of Of Rust & Glass. In the Mower’s Wake was later anthologized in Made Of Rust & Glass. I wrote this one out on a Bending Genres writing retreat in New Mexico.

Late Nights in Philpot: I recorded a four-song split with my brother-from-another-mother Todd Elson (who you all should be listening to). Two of the songs are mine; two are Todd’s. We provided all the instrumentation and recorded the thing ourselves out in Philpot, KY. The split was mixed & mastered by Travis Geiman of Bigfoot Studios. We got some cds printed (they’re are a few left) and had two parties to celebrate (one at the Switchboard in Toledo & another at Flywheel Brewing in Elizabethtown). We visited our dudes at Bike Rack Records in Toledo and recorded some live footage for their Live at the Rack series. You can purchase the cd and audio tracks on Bandcamp. You can stream the record at all the usual places.

Layout by Michelle Elson of Twin Owl Imaging

Gundrunk Blues: I wrote a poem about gun violence in America after the Uvalde school shooting. It was published in Topical Poetry. You can read it here.

SWAY: a limited edition collection of haiku from Michael D. Grover (who you should be reading) and myself was published by Laughing Ronin Press. The book contains 100 poems: 50 from Grover, 50 from me. Only 30 copies were printed.

Shipwrecked on Liminal Island: This poem was published in the October Issue of Drunk Monkeys. Read it here. This poem is included in my 25-poem collection SONGS FOR LEAVING, out now via Gutter Snob Books.

I made a video for my poem/song Riversong (Memorial Potamology), which is included in my 25-poem collection SONGS FOR LEAVING, out now via Gutter Snob Books.

In 2022 I moved from my farmland home in Philpot, KY to the woods of Hardin County. In the process I recorded three videos in a storage container. Here they are.

Lost, Long Gone, Forgotten Records singles: 2022 was a fun year for my poetry/audio project LLGFR (I record poets reading their work then add sound). I got to work with poems from some serious heavy-hitters. These poems are so damn good. I did my best to enhance them with found sound/instrumentation/music. As always, you can read/download the lyric sheets, check out/download front & back covers, and stream the tracks on the LLGFR website. Also, you can now stream all of 2022 LLGFR releases on the major streaming services, including Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, etc.

2022 releases:

LLGFR #38: Patrick McGee: A Poem for the Moon w/B-Side Malevich’s SquareLLGFR #39: Joseph Fulkerson: The Lifespan of a Successful Failure w/B-Side A Merry-Go Round in PurgatoryLLGFR #40: Mike Corrao: Ur-PlanetarityLLGFR #41: Oliver Knudsen: Here Becomes There w/B-Side heat and timeLLGFR #42: Kayla Marie Williams: The Math of Living w/B-Side HollyLLGFR #43: Iris Berry: As Good As It Gets w/B-Side Shooting for the Stars in KevlarLLGFR #44: Meg Tuite: Family Severance w/B-Side death every 3 seconds

Lastly: my 25-poem collection SONGS FOR LEAVING came out on November 25th, 2022. This book is very special to me. This book finds me growing. This book finds me experimenting. This book finds me singing. These poems got me through some dark times & I hope this small fire I made provides warmth and light for those in need.

The audio release of SONGS FOR LEAVING was a lot of fun to make. I recorded myself reading all 25 poems then went in and added sound/instrumentation/music. You can buy the audio tracks on Bandcamp. You can stream them at all the usual places, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Youtube, etc.

I had a book launch party at the Daviess County Public Library & got my picture in the paper. I’ve got several reading dates lined up to push the book, including stops in Detroit, Toledo, & Evansville. More TBA.

SIGNED – Songs for Leaving by A.S. Coomer

$15 includes US shipping.

$15.00

Click here to purchase.

Songs For Leaving Launch Party This Saturday- The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

This Saturday the good folks at the Daviess County Public Library are hosting a launch party reading for my Gutter Snob Books poetry collection SONGS FOR LEAVING. I’ll read from the book & I’ll even sling a handful of songs. Owensboro’s golden boy Joseph Fulkerson (check out Laughing Ronin Press) & Evansville’s favorite postal poetry worker Jonathan S. Baker (check out the Grind Stone) will both grace us with their words. We’ll all have books for sale. There will be coffee and baked goods from The Spot Coffee & Finery. The event is free & open to the public. 7PM CST. See y’all there!

WANT MORE?

Freddie Bourne of the Messenger-Inquirer called and asked me a few questions about SONGS FOR LEAVING & the launch party. You can read that online here.

Big thanks to Wesley Johnson & DCPL for their continued support.

Can’t wait til Saturday? Check out the SONGS FOR LEAVING audio version out now on all the major streaming services, including Bandcamp, Youtube, Amazon Music, Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, etc. The audio release includes all 25 poems from the book backed with instrumentation/sound.

Signed Paperback Copy of A.S. Coomer’s SONGS FOR LEAVING

2022 Gutter Snob Books25 poems by A.S. Coomer

$15.00

Click here to purchase.

Just Another October Poem in pioneertown

Big thanks to Brenna Kischuk & the pioneertown team for including my poem Just Another October Poem in their latest issue. There are five other writers with work featured and y’all need to read them. My favorite piece is Jim Kraus’ Lunar Eclipse.

Just Another October Poem is included in my Gutter Snob Books collection SONGS FOR LEAVING, which is out now.

All the best,

A.S. Coomer

Songs for Leaving

I’m so excited, y’all. My Gutter Snob Books poetry collection SONGS FOR LEAVING is out now.

beautiful cover by Michele McDannold

SONGS FOR LEAVING Signed Paperback

$15 includes one signed paperback copy of A.S. Coomer’s 25-poem collection SONGS FOR LEAVING (Gutter Snob Books 2022). Shipping in USA included.

$15.00

Click here to purchase.

There’s a paperback, ebook, and audio version of the book. The audio version contains all 25 poems coupled with original instrumentation. You can stream/download SONGS FOR LEAVING at all the usual places. You can purchase all 25 tracks via Bandcamp.

PAPERBACK via MAGICAL JEEP and AMAZON.

Listen to all 25 songs/poems on Youtube below.

Stream/download on Spotify below.

Stream on APPLE MUSIC.

Stream/purchase on AMAZON MUSIC.

HyperFollow

Songs for Leaving is the latest collection of poems from prolific writer and musician A.S. Coomer. “Be the damn after every God,” he advises, “. . . make a big stink.” Lots of great verbal pictography here, each piece distilled and presented in exact, precise language. Growing gardens of hope in the heart, and where else can we grow, after all, ache like bulb near bloom, hollowed out by a deeper need? With night blues looming over it all, as the televised sky screams the screech of bombs, as we viewers feign calm, numbed by numberless views of the same unfeeling broadcast, beholden to the lows by our spectation through thin hard glass walls of screens on our phones and computers, miles and miles of wires between us and the action, & here come the End Times, fa la la.

“Songs For Leaving is a phenomenal collection crackling gems of vast expansion when “you can’t live small enough to escape all light,” yet “trauma can’t be stolen.” Coomer’s brilliance radiates a live wire of infused turbulence and musicality into the searing myriad of his haunting poems. Absolutely mesmerizing and unstoppable! Get a copy! Inspiring and life-altering. LOVE!”—Meg Tuite, author of White Van

”The wizened intricacy of Coomer leaps from the page, with lines like “…Understand something will always be lost/ In translation.” There is musicality in Songs For Leaving, the poet wending his path, attempting to make sense of the inherent seeming madness. These poems ache and break, trembling and their urgency is weighted with the human inescapability of life.”—Robert Vaughan, author of Askew

“Songs for Leaving is so goddamned good that it transcends the genre of poetry and enters the realms of good fucking art. Coomer weaves melody and harmony into poetry so beautiful that a reader almost forgets they’re reading about war, erosion, climate change, love, life, loss, and the big bad nothing. Like all great maestros, he turns war into sonnets, and pain into hymns that make it all almost tolerable. This is what poetry is. What it’s supposed to be. Goddamn.”—Dan Denton, author of $100-A-Week Motel

“A.S. Coomer’s poems trace the “receding stygian tide kept barely at bay,” but he’s not in the business of delineating spiritual doom and lived experience. This poetry seeks to invent new phrasings that we might utter or listen to as we “count the hours by the silt rings.” “Despite it all: / make, do, see / if you’re able” Coomer implores us. These Songs For Leaving are outboard lyrics engineered to propel us around liminal island, “greasy hullaballoos… electric fangs rending neon flesh.” I know Coomer’s readers will find this chapbook a welcome addition to his polymathic catalogue. It’s hard not to fall in.”—Cal Freeman, author of Poolside at the Dearborn Inn

I’ll be hitting the road in support of SONGS. Come out and listen to some poems. More dates to be announced soon.

Big thanks to the amazing Michele McDannold (who you all should be reading) for all her hard work on this book. If you think the cover is beautiful just wait until you see the interior.

This project got me through some rough times. I hope these songs lend a little light to others wading through the darkness.

LOVE

A.S. Coomer

Songs for Leaving Audio

SONGS FOR LEAVING, my 25 poem/song collection, will be available in paperback, ebook, & audio formats on Black Friday, November 25th, 2022. The audio release contains all 25 poems/songs with instrumentation. You can preorder the audio release via Bandcamp now.

While you’re patiently waiting for SONGS FOR LEAVING to come out, enjoy the video and audio track of Riversong (Memorial Potamology) on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, etc. Presave on HyperFollow.

Riversong (Memorial Potamology)

Songs for Leaving, my Gutter Snob Books poetry collection, comes out on Black Friday (11/25/22). In the meantime, here’s a single for your listening and viewing pleasure.

Riversong (Memorial Potamology) is up for streaming at all the usual places. I made a little video for the poem/song. You can watch that below.

Bandcamp

Apple Music

HyperFollow