Title Notes From The Bonfire: Poems In The Age of Coronavirus
Author Matt Nagin
Genre Poetry
Publisher Burning Flower Press
Book Blurb
In March of 2020, author Matt Nagin came down with coronavirus. Most of these poems were written during the five weeks he was trying to recover. They cover a range of subjects, although the overarching theme is the dystopian suffering unleashed by this global pandemic. The book also includes photography by Andrzej Jerzy Lech and illustrations by Natasha Yearwood.
Interestingly enough, all three contributors were New York City residents at the time our home became the first U.S. epicenter, and, as result, the Big Apple is sort of the ghost in the machine, if you will, with the changes our city underwent often mirroring and compounding those within each contributor.
Notes From The Bonfire is Nagin's third poetry collection and includes work previously published in Gravitas, The Organic Poet, and Poetry In The Time Of Coronavirus. Matt has been writing poetry for twenty-five years, particularly when in trying situations. This time was no different. Composing these poems, during his battle with this insidious virus, at the height of the first outbreak, offered Matt a unique perspective on the damage wrought by this horrific scourge.
We created this book in the hope it would be of some use to the many going through an extremely trying period. With that in mind, fifty percent of all proceeds from book sales will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. Finally, the book is called Notes From The Bonfire for a number of reasons. One of those is we're hoping the cataclysmic fires of 2020 can be transformed into more of a purifying, celebratory bonfire. Additionally, the hope is that a few notes can be salvaged from all the wreckage, the chaos and destruction, that can make all we’ve endured more tolerable.
Excerpt
The Virus That Hunted The Sun
Scrap your plans, brother.
Maniacs are throwing it all
out the window,
wall street sharks
are putting a little extra grease
in the funky hair,
a tire lady
starts selling her cough
instead of her sorrow,
the functionary on TV
is droning on about
selling your bonds—
the value of a lifetime—
as the NBA is shut down.
Broadway is a ghost town.
Flights out of JFK to Puerto Rico
go for 21$,
and all flights from Europe
are banned for thirty days—
value of a lifetime.
Great deal.
Get in while you can.
Thanks Jim Cramer,
any other great advice?
Meanwhile, I'm on the couch
choking,
my chest killing
my fever high.
Meanwhile, I'm quarantined
the neighbor banging on
the godforsaken wall,
the ceiling collapsing
the night turning
into a tornado.
Meanwhile, I'm spitting
into the eye of my fate
and trying to laugh
and laugh
and laugh—
and tell myself
this is just a silly dream.
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Author Biography
Matt Nagin is a writer, educator, actor, filmmaker, and standup comedian. In December 2019, Matt's humor book, "Do Not Feed The Clown" was published by Tenth Street Press, and, since then, has obtained excellent reviews. In 2018, Matt's poem, "If We Are Doomed," won The Spirit First Editor's Choice Award, and the following year, another poem, "Birds Singing In My Chest," was published in the anthology "New York's Best Emerging Poets 2019." He has two books of poetry available on Amazon, "Butterflies Lost Within The Crooked Moonlight," and "Feast of Sapphires," both of which have obtained very strong reviews. Kirkus Reviews, for example, referred to Matt's first book as "powerful verse from a writer of real talent." Matt's first collection of humorous writings, "From the Fridge to the Crackerjack Box", was published in 2007, and since then he's had satirical work showcased in The Humor Times, The Satirist, Robot Butt, Points In Case and The New York Post. Matt also wrote/directed a short film, "Inside Job," that won awards on the festival circuit, such as Best Short at The Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes and Best Supporting Actor at the Nice International Film Festival. As an actor, Matt has appeared on a wide range of TV and film programs, most recently in a Co-Star role in a scene with Al Pacino, in a new Amazon series, "Hunters," produced by Jordan Peele. Matt has further performed standup in seven countries, on The Dr. Steve Show, The Wendy Williams Show, and at The Edinburgh Comedy Festival. A survivor of Crohn's disease, for thirty years, Matt was granted The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's 2019 Mission Award.
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Thank you, Matt, for sharing your book with us!