SWALLOW by Sam Rush

“In SWALLOW, Rush sounds off at a new frequency, tuning keenly to the irreducible particularities of a body living its way into a prophecy only certain ears can hear. Ambitious in sonic play and buzzing with the verve of a private hero’s journey, this collection lends gravity to understanding inherited form—the sonnet and one’s own corporeal vessel—as a pyre an altar an altered/state. SWALLOW permits nonlinear passage into the choose-your-own-adventure of dismantling so many false dichotomies—noun vs. verb and sound vs. silence, among them—and Rush proves a skilled captain on all counts.”
—MEG DAY, author of Last Psalm at Sea Level

“Sam Rush’s SWALLOW is an experiment in space, sound, and flight. This debut collection of poetry provides an intimate interrogation of the grief we must learn to live around. A contemporary poet’s ode to the sonnet, SWALLOW uses poetic tradition to build a world of new meaning that rings the page and echoes the ears. A playground and praise song, this collection holds the reader in the contradictions and the comforts of negative space. SWALLOW demands we consider ourselves and the lineage of our losses in ways that fill us whole.”
—PORSHA OLAYIWOLA, Boston poet laureate, author of i shimmer sometimes too