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Grief Tattoos
Poems of Rage and Redemption
by Christopher Reilley
Excerpts
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Bio
Not willing to be defined only by what he does, Christopher Reilley will say that he is a print technologist by vocation, a print geek, winemaker and poet by avocation, a father and husband (although not always in that order) and a lover of word wrestling in any form.
He is a conglomeration of everything he has ever done, seen, felt, caused, experienced, observed and survived.
He has held many jobs, from working in restaurants for over twenty years—both in front and in back of the house—to freelance illustrator and designer, print expert, computer help technician, door to door salesman, on-air television face, producer, sign maker, delivery truck driver, stand up comic, trade show barker and donut maker. He's been to China, went to clown school, and spent a night in jail.
His favorite poem is the next one, the one he has not read yet.
Reviews
“Life's intensity comes full force like a tornado wind in Grief Tattoos. A gripping powerhouse journey of fierce, dynamic emotional words that tighten and loosen your heart. No pain, no gain as they say. Christopher Reilley honestly exposes a time where his world was turned upside down, but most importantly shows us how strength and laughter triumph in the end.”
DINA DARLING, The Safety of Madness and Winter's Fierce Breath
“From the opening line of Christopher Reilley’s Grief Tattoos, readers are thrust into a series of raw and direct narrative poems that address everything from bad romances to an overbearing, abusive father. Reilley has a gift for crafting a compelling narrative arc and a stirring image. Readers aren’t likely to forget the mother in 'The View from the Road' who cups her face to 'keep blood from ruining her new carpet' after a family blowout. But the real power of Grief Tattoos is the growth of the male persona, the chance for Reilley’s core character to mature and ultimately find redemption and forgiveness.”
BRIAN FANELLI, Front Man
“Christopher Reilley, in Grief Tattoos, circumnavigates the scars of his own suffering like a reluctant survivor. In works like ‘The View from the Road’, ‘Living the Art Life’, and ‘Rage’, he re-traces a path through perdition—and we travel with him, his stunning verses making the pain immediate and real—until he emerges into the redemptive lyricism of poems like ‘After the Silence’ and ‘Soul Windows’. This is an authentic voice, made potent in the crucible of poetry. “
SAMUEL PERALTA, Sonnets from the Labrador
Purchase Grief Tattoos here.
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