Elephants & Butterflies

by Alan Michael Parker

Elephants & Butterflies combines the imaginative forays of The Vandals with the more meditative approach of Love Song with Motor Vehicles . Both wild and calm, boisterous and quiet, the poems in Elephants & Butterflies use surprise, song, and startling metaphor while allowing the ideas to simmer just below the surface of the lyric. The poems manage the difficult task of being highly readable and accessible, while still containing complex philosophical and personal knowledge. Alan Michael Parker (www.amparker.com) teaches at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. He also teaches at Queens University, where he is core faculty in the low-residency MFA program.

Genres: Poetry

92 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Alan Michael Parker is the author of eight books of poems, four novels, and editor of five reference works on poetry. His poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared widely in journals. Parker teaches at Davidson College, where he is Douglas C. Houchens Professor of English, and in the University of Tampa low-residency M.F.A. program. His awards include three Pushcart Prizes, the 2013 and 2014 Randall Jarrell Award, the North Carolina Book Award, and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Poetry Award from the Poetry Society of America.

Reviews

[Patrick Mcgee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this one from a professor at NKU who got me hooked on poetry. I like the range that Parker demonstrates in this collection. We have some straight up narratively-crafted poems, sonnets, some abstract stuff, and even some playing around with structure. The subject matter is varied and the words are fresh, surprising, and thought-provoking. Highly recommended.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just awesome. Meditations on the soul, Big Ideas, with a wry sense of humor to boot. Smart poems from a smart man.

[Boxhuman · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were times it almost let me get away before dragging me back with another fantastic line.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

All great, but entirely worth it just for "My Son, Under the Waterfall," which is full of joy.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another home run, another crossword completed in ink.