Poet
DAVE MORRISON
THE BOOKS
Dave Morrison has published sixteen collections of poetry, starting with SWEET in 2006.
“Morrison can be trusted to not waste your time; every poem is worth the read. It’s a perfect book for late night with a drink…”
(Paul ‘Blowfish’ Lovell, Boston Groupie News)
Dave Morrison's books are available on-line (Bull Moose Records, Lulu, Barnes & Noble, Amazon ) and at the following fine independant book stores including Shermans (Portland, Camden, Bar Harbor, Damariscotta, Freeport, Boothbay Harbor), Gulf of Maine Books (Brunswick), Owl & Turtle (Camden), Hello Hello (Rockland), Left Banke Books (Belfast), Bookstacks (Bucksport), and more.
fail
ISBN-9781105844973 JukeBooks 2012
“Dave Morrison is wide awake and paying attention. This latest collection is a testament to his ability to transform ordinary scenes into potent, lively poetry. “fail” is loaded with poems that are honest, exuberant, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Morrison’s imagination surprises and delights in poems such as “Fly”:
In one way was my father was not ordinary.
He could fly.
I was the only one who knew.
With “fail”, Dave Morrison invites us to a poetry party, where the guests are unique characters, and singular moments abound. You won’t want to miss it.”
(Sudasi Clement, Poetry Editor, Santa Fe Literary Review)
Clubland
ISBN 9781257975426 Fighting Cock Press 2011
“Morrison’s rock star past haunts much of his writing, but his eye for detail and his razor-sharp sense of humor elevate his words into something much more than that — something visceral and anchored in the real world, whether it’s in the past or the present.” (Emily Burnham – Bangor Daily News)
“By tapping into his tumultuous past, Morrison has created work that is not only technically sound, but viscerally engaging. His is no passive verse; it grabs you by the collar and demands your attention. “
(Allen Adams, themaineedge.com)
“sharp, revealing imagery in crisp and subtle but tightly rhythmic language”
(Dana Wilde / Bangor Daily News)
Psalms
ISBN-978-1546892618 JukeBooks 2017
Memoir. Mosaic. Miniatures. Meditations. Morsels. Beads on a string. Love notes to the Muse. Poems. Not-poems. Songs of praise. Psalms.
"Compelling and wise as the mystical musings of Rumi, these psalms sing it loud and yet whisper secrets in your ear. You can take these beguiling poems to heart.”
~Kristen Lindquist author of Tourists in the Known World
“Morrison's Psalms are distillations on his perennial themes: natural curiosity, the difficulties of writing poems, and the rocking, rolling, tumbling search for true wisdom.”
~Dana Wilde author of Summer to Fall
Cancer Poems
ISBN 978-1514794524 JukeBooks 2015
"Cancer Poems might be, astonishingly, Dave Morrison’s best collection of poetry. It is literally a record of his time served in the grip of tonsilor cancer, just this calendar year. In it are the distinctive features of Morrison’s poetry — directness of expression; palpable feelings of wonderment, awe and different kinds of pain; what is traditionally called wisdom from close to the heart; and a remarkable feel for simile and metaphor. In this book, the latter aspect goes beyond, goes far beyond even his usual facility for apt figuration."
Dana Wilde - Kennebec Journal
"In these honest and courageous poems, Morrison shares his turbulent journey through the landscape of cancer, its painful paths and nearly unclimbable hills, its tremendous skies with bright stars of gratitude. These poems encompass a geography of emotion, from self-deprecation and moments of despair, to humor, love, and resilience. Morrison describes the beginning of illness, the long days “where each breath is a/ noticeable event,” the measurement and exhaustion of pain, the beautiful allure of morphine. This collection reminds us that life’s brutal blows are meant to help us learn “important lessons about what/ is real and good and valuable,” and to sing “a song of thanks/ as loud as a/ saxophone.”
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Ellen Taylor, author of Floating