Poet Gary Allen

I'LL BEGIN IN THE MIDDLE

I'LL BEGIN IN THE MIDDLE, a book-length poem, considers poets and poetry, wondering where both begin and end as they negotiate the treacherous in between. An Ars Poetica--"The Art of Poetry"--it aims to enact its poetics as it describes them. It contemplates the lives of world poets, invoking their slippery footholds in phenomenal reality and anguished, angelic expressions as spiritual lineage. It examines both what poetry may or may not be, and who may or may not be saying it.

About the Author

Gary Allen is the Co-Executive Director of the Mindfulness Peace Project, which teaches meditation to prison inmates and military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress. He's written books on secular mindfulness practice for inmates (Discovering Sanity) and military vets (Warrior's Heart). He previously taught English in Colorado colleges and for five years in South Korea. He has published six books of poetry. He lives in Boulder, CO.