2020 Poems

‘Tell me where to go, ’ one poem plaintively asks, in this collection written in the midst of a pandemic. Timothy Gager manages to capture the chaos, the confusion, the despair, and the existential strangeness of those (of these) days. By the time this book reaches you, I pray we will be on the other side. If not, then these poems will bring you comfort. If so, then these poems will be a document from a time that will not be believed.

Nick Flynn, American Poet, Memoirist and Playwright Timothy Gager’s 2020is a harsh ride through the dark tunnels of our turbulent times wheneven the leaves are threatening and the poetstands alone witnessing the tree of his life… an exquisite 2021 New Year treat one can treasure to master misery in more difficult years of the Pandemic ahead.

Yuyutsu Sharma, Himalayan Poet, Author ofAnnapurna PoemsandA Blizzard in my Bones: New York Poems

I love that Timothy Gager opens2020with a gratitude list.This time-proven Alcoholics Anonymous tool for when ‘life is difficult’ begins a collection of poems that navigates a world damaged by pandemic, cruel politics, ailing and dying parents. Isolation can be lethal for the alcoholic and loneliness is ‘the handcuff.’ As a person in recovery and poet, I was struck by the explosive truths in these poems that confront all of us.2020is a collection I’ll return to again and again to be reminded of the strength of words, of love, and to ‘kiss the ground I once fell on.’

Jennifer Martelli, author ofThe Uncanny ValleyandMy Tarantella