Poetry. LOWLY is part invocation, part invitation. The poems in this debut collection consider death, rebirth, and love, while exploring the symbols that make life bearable. Here, ancient mythology and philosophy are examined through contemporary situations, brought forth by a voice that oscillates between humorous and plaintive tones– I invent stories. Out of other stories. I can only repeat what I have heard. // A scruple is the enemy of a moment. LOWLY is a restorative work with rhythmic lines that will resonate with the reader long after the book is closed.

Alan Felsenthal’s LOWLY is quietly oracular. With feeling and purpose, these poems move through precise intensities of thought to lay bare an integrated sense of a possible world. With such paradoxes and subtleties, we might call Felsenthal a new Metaphysical Poet. –Susan Howe

The poems disrupt without feeling artificial. They manage an opacity in background only, as the language is clear and careful…LOWLY is a collection of mysteries, each one more confounding and comforting than the last. –Daniel Moysaenko