dew on mornings. past: poems born from solitude

On Sidewalk Theatre: I have been led through familiar cities, glimpsed moments from the lives of strangers and caught fragments of their overheard conversations. But these are more than poetic snapshots of contemporary life. These poems are imbued with disdain for privilege and compassion for those without it. Every now and then, the poet turns his gaze upon himself, evoking places he has been and moments he has lived. This juxtaposition between the lives of strangers and the deeply personal captures something very true about travelling, and about living. Through the lives of strangers, we are reminded of past intimacies and the things and people we have lost. Andrew Bovell, playwright, Australia. In theatre, each character you meet is teetering on the edge of catastrophe. This is a collection of poems about the dangers of that precipice, but it is not the characters in the poems scattered all over the world whom you fear for the most. It is the one sitting behind the words who, sometimes, shockingly, shows itself above the parapets and makes your ‘fat red heart’ break. Tom Holloway, playwright, Australia.On dew on mornings. past: Joachim Matschoss’ new collection speaks to the collective and timely fear and isolation many of us feel, but he also offers hope and acknowledgement of life’s beauty and of the resilience of love and youth. The depth of imagery, a wide range of issues and disparate stories that populate dew on mornings. past gives readers time to pause and reflect and to rest in between the chaos. Jillian Campana, Ph.D.Professor and Associate Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences American University in Cairo