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In Pawning My Sins, we see Michael Joseph Arcangelini as a drunk, an outlaw, a hedonist, a voyeur, in recovery, opposed to and flowing with shades of modern anxiety, and, most importantly, as a poet. As we read on we find our own relation to these memories, memories of the venal sins we commit in the process of truly living. In this cycle of poems we find Arcangelini fearless with his sins. He stands with them embracing the grace found on the edge of his expanding timeline.
- Jason Baldinger author of a history of backroads misplaced: selected poems 2010-2020.
In Pawning My Sins, Michael Joe Arcangelini presents an eclectic collection of poems that fit no single mold. A cross-section of a life, it holds memories from his youth, responses to the pandemic, reflections about the death of his parents. The poems speak about detox and death, elephants in every room and the magic of fireflies. They ask How do a hummingbird’s wings/ sound to the hummingbird? and imagine some uncertain future/where words might yet be allowed/to carry untrammeled truth.
- Agnes Vojta, author of A Coracle for Dreams
Michael J. Arcangelini is one of this century’s truly gifted poets. His ideas and visions are clear and real and he is one well-crafted poet. His new book, Pawning My Sins, is–in Arcangelini’s usual fashion-striking, intensely personal, and, at the same time, accessible. These are lived experiences which explore lingering dreams and Detox, Confession and Sweet Coffee Mornings. These poems are on an exploration of Self, all our Selves, and a journey we can make to Truth and Heart. You’ll want to join this poet on this particular time away. You’ll return an awed and insightful human being.
- Martina Reisz Newberry, author of Blues for French Roast with Chicory and Glyphs
MJ Arcangelini tells us he’s pawning his sins but quickly reminds us he’s having a hard time finding any takers, letting us know that each one is an elephant in every room before taking us on a harrowing whirlwind road trip through both the counterculture of the late 20th century, and the journey to come to terms with addiction, sexuality, and the legacy those things carry through the absurdity of pandemics and the rest of the 21st Century. The poems here are breathtaking, heartbreaking, and ultimately lead us through the natural beauty that the poet sees reflected in his own life, and into a broken wise magic that only a poet of MJ Arcangelini’s skill can conjure.
- Paul Corman-Roberts, founder of Oakland’s annual Beast Crawl poetry festival and author of Bone Moon Palace and We Shoot Typewriters
