JAMES COLE

“In the style of medieval mythology and its lands of mystical creatures, James Cole has used his accomplished language skills to give us three unlikely soothsayers. He has created new legends as remarkable poetry. He has given us a poetic hat trick. 'He moves quickly who is master on the island of knives,' is genius. Look at his poem, “The Progress of 'Matter'” and try to tell me he is not brilliant. I dare you! Kudos, James.”

—SARA ROBINSON, author of Sometimes the Little Town, Stones for Words, Two Little Girls in a Wading Pool, and Needville

“James Cole's Crow, come home draws on folklore to create a narrative about three animal characters--a crow, a snake, a wolf--who interact in surprising, and often hilarious ways. The book is a medley of different voices and different forms, some conventional, some unconventional. What comes across repeatedly is the musicality of the language. These poems are meant to be read, but also to be chanted or sung.”

—HENRY HART, poet laureate of Virginia and author of The Ghost Ship, The Rooster Mask, and Background Radiation

“James Cole is a young poet with a mischievous sense of humor who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Crow, come home is his first published work. His book is structured in the Aesopian tradition and he is not afraid to play, fast and loose, with universal truths as he demonstrates in Keep This Sea. “The Progress of Matter,” my particular favorite, updates the graphic techniques of concrete poetry and tells a dark story, indeed. I believe we have not seen the last of the agile Mr. Cole. As for Crow, come home: a poetry lovers treat.”

—RICHARD WISE, author of The Dawning