Massachusetts Poet Mark Fleckenstein's Latest Collection LOWERCASE GOD Is Now Available

PORTLAND, OR; July 19, 2022-- Unsolicited Press is proud to be bring you another exceptional poetry collection, LOWERCASE GOD, by Mark Fleckenstein. Fleckenstein's pen is not a sword, but a paintbrush, skillfully painting poetic gems on every page. 

LAST PHOTOGRAPH OF MY DAYS AS AN IDEALIST

You urge me, after so many years of silence, to send you details about my occupations, about this "wonderful" world in which, you say, I am lucky enough to live and move and have my being. I might answer that I am a man without occupation, and  that this world is not in the least wonderful.
—E.M. Cioran, “Letter To A Faraway Friend”


How far I have come to wish
to come home. This morning,
the first in twenty-three
exiled years, the white  noise
of commerce eclipsed my only dream
of childhood: the dull boots
and swollen faces of bodies hang-
ing from streetlamps. Your letters
and wishes for my life here
arrive whitened by a belief
in this country like a trinket
of light perfect and invisible.
What has not changed and what
has are identical. 28 years earlier,
Chinese tanks and soldiers rolled
over students. Here whole families
sleep on sewer grates and barter
for whatever one might spare.
Yesterday, a pigeon appeared on
my desk and pecked at your letters.
My cat caught it in mid-flight.
The argument of its wings
surprised him into letting it go.

About Mark Fleckenstein
Mark Fleckenstein was born in Chicago, and grew up in Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, North Carolina, and New Hampshire, and presently lives in Massachusetts.  He graduated from University of North Carolina in Charlotte with a B.A. in English,  Vermont College of Fine Arts and received an MFA in Writing. He became very involved in the poetry community in and around Boston, for over 30 years.  He was an assistant editor for (BLuR), the Boston Literary Review, founder/coordinator of two bi-weekly poetry reading series in Boston and a workshop leader, He’s given poetry readings with famous poets (Charles Simic, Linda Gregg, Mark Doty, Mark Cox and Carl Phillips) and not so famous poets. He is also a painter. He has two amazing daughters and a large, eccentric, long-haired black cat named Ariadne. 

About Unsolicited Press
Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Learn more at  www.unsolicitedpress.com. The publisher can be followed on Instagram and Twitter: @unsolicitedp

LOWERCASE GOD is available on July 19, 2022 as a paperback (64p.;  978-1-956692-24-2)  and e-book (all major retailers). The title is distributed to the trade by Ingram. The author is open to speaking with the media, holding readings, and engaging in other author opportunities.

###
Press only, Unsolicited Press
619.354.8005 
marketing@unsolicitedpress.com 

For artist interviews, readings, and podcasts: