DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/RW7B-3J29
Defense Date
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Gregory Donovan
Second Advisor
David Wojahn
Abstract
One of the most meaningful duties of poetry is to examine small moments in life—the fleeting, the transitory, the quotidian—and make them sacred. Its title derived from a conflation of the colloquialism “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” Horse Grenade is concerned with questions of identity and proximity—physical, mental, and emotional—which weave themselves throughout my work. I am intrigued by the fluctuating correlation between spiritual closeness and temporal distance, the way it defies definition and logic. In an effort to address this phenomenon, I immerse the reader into foreign cultures and the frequently extreme circumstances of everyday life. In doing so, I seek invention, but also return to familial relationships and personal experience, ranging from rediscovering my heritage to my father breaking into nuclear power plants. My intention as a poet is to make honest and unique observations, developing them into a deeper understanding.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-13-2013