Where the Men Come From by N.W. Downs

A poetry chapbook exploring religion's conflict with the queer body, asking whether either of them remain sacred after [god] has been called in to account for his actions. Downs lives in Chicago with his cat where he writes infrequently, paints badly, and generally goes about his own business. His poems and short stories have been published here and there, and at the moment he shares most of his unpublished work on Instagram. "The poem is too coy, grasping at straws, describing the swell and flex of the universe like everything is beautiful … o how the pomegranate undone is beautiful and not just another broken heart! But for all the sun’s shine and all the bees at once, N.W. Downs' Where the Men Come From throttles into the difficult and dangerous world, into the unwanting of a body, the unwanting of a master, father, god. The world is too much with us and yet our loneliness is all consuming. Down’s mournful and nimble poems touch tenderness and romance with the severity of an endurin