“With Crown Prince of Rabbits, John Paul Davis confronts the grief of divorce, what it means to be a father long distance, and the way poverty can make one feel unworthy—all in the shadow of an unforgiving and increasingly invasive America. The true gift of these poems is in their vision beyond, the grace of rehabilitating the self, not necessarily as whole but as capable of loving and being loved. These poems sing the self in all its weight and hair and musk, in all its holy wonders.”—Stevie Edwards, poet

“Goethe claimed, ‘By seeking and blundering, we learn.’ Crown Prince of Rabbits is an elegant chronicle of exactly this equation. In poems imbued with wisdom, celebration, shame, discovery, humor, and music, we witness one man’s passage through the difficult, glorious, and sometimes ignoble act of change. These deftly crafted stories give attention to the complexity of being alive: from self-destruction to accountability to evolution to—at its most earnest—emotional intimacy. Here, Davis explores the thrum and folly of his own humanity with such precision, urgency, and honesty, I am left asking, What greater endeavor than to face oneself fully and come away more whole?” —Jeanann Verlee, poet

John Paul Davis was born in Durham, North Carolina, and has lived in Chicago, San Francisco, Ohio, and New York City. He is a graduate of East Carolina University and DePaul University. His writing has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Word Riot, The Journal, MUZZLE Magazine, Four Way Review, Bat City Review, and the great weather anthology Birds Fall Silent in the Mechanical Sea. John Paul lives with his wife in New York City, where he works as a web developer, makes music and visual art, and writes poems.

Publication date: December 1, 2016
$17.00
ISBN: 978-0998144009