Louisiana Literature Press is proud to announce the publication of Joel Ferdon’s poetry collection, The Arsonist’s Son.
The book is currently available for purchase through our press store (Please remember to specify title and author when submitting payment via PayPal.). The book will also be listed on Amazon.com in the near future.
From The Arsonist’s Son
Mind the River Rocks
Paddle down the cottonmouth
red river divine watch the strongest
pull catfish from clay-colored Yadkin
width of a yardstick to South Yadkin fork
egret land—heron waves and face shadows
sweat is the most primal of tastes
on days made of river water.
at least the current chose us
when we had paddle-up
found muscles & memory intact
howled words and yearn for drink.
if you knew that day that your lead
taking up the end had river rocks
jutting around his mind, would you
tell him to free float until the end?
About Our Author
Joel Ferdon’s chapbook, Elegy for My Father’s Bones, was published by Louisiana Literature Press in 2016, and his poems have appeared in Verse Daily, Asheville Poetry Review, Flyway, The Southern Quarterly, Cold Mountain Review, storySouth, Louisiana Literature, and elsewhere. Joel is the recipient of two Artist Support Grants through the North Carolina Arts Council, has been a contributor at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Joel is a librarian, teacher, and records professional working and living a simple life in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, son, and three black labs.