Six Poems and a Song

Centerpiece of this collection is The Turning Point, a narrative poem about the battle for Guadalcanal in November of 1942. Fusing elements of Homeric and Norse saga with contemporary slang, it’s McCandless’s attempt to create a uniquely American epic out of one of World War II’s most important campaigns. Also included: poems about baseball and businessmen, and an extended sonnet sequence about lost love, A Beginner’s Guide to Disappointment. Features material previously published in Asphodel, Nebo, Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge, Cold Mountain Review, and Borderlands.