At the conclusion of Keith Harvey’s novel, Cave Gossip, the protagonist recites an aphorism: being in being is.

Sea Snails on a Black Chow’s Tongue explores the meaning of this aphorism.

The poems in this collection, then, deal with man’s basic aloneness in being; a castaway, if you will, in his own existence.

Poet

He sat and read
his primal poems
on a wooden stool
carved from pine.
His lips purpled
as he scanned
primordial words
and his tongue
shadowed
like a chow’s.