Soul Patch - 9781946830418

Elton Glaser’ s tenth collection drafts a portrait of “ a world in love with its dying,” touching on the cruelties and absurdities of public life and the pain of personal reflection: “ We don’ t know / How deep the dark goes down / Before it reaches bottom.” In search of some reconciliation among the impulses that pull us part, he resolves: “ I’ m working on a hybrid between / The hormones and the sacraments.” And what can a poet do but offer: these little reckonings of Warning and desire, these lines bred somewhere beyond The unruly reaches of the moon, beyond the lectures and corrections. Soul Patch was selected for the 2025 Off the Grid Prize by poet Gregory Orr, who describes it as a work “ full of strong lyric wit and moral fervor.” It is also full of fight. Glaser’ s irreverence and fury (“ I take my adrenaline straight, with a dash of bitters” ) act as a balm, a proverbial patch in these times of daily injury, bracing readers for the next blow. “ Listen,” the poet urges. “ Sometimes things have to get ugly / Before beauty shows itself.”