"THIS WORLD IS CRUEL TO THOSE WHO
INSIST UPON STAYING OPEN TO IT.
MATT MITCHELL, THE POEMS IN GROWN OCEAN
SHOW US AGAIN AND AGAIN,
IS ONE SUCH SOUL-
EVERYWHERE IS AN OCCASION
FOR GRATITUDE AND AWE,
FROM BUFFALO NICKELS TO COHABITATION
TO MEAT LOAF TO ASTRONOMY
TO COKE ZERO TO, YES, LOVE.
AND THAT IS HARD, RETAINING
SUCH A PERMEABILITY TO TENDERNESS
IN A CULTURE, A NATION, THAT CONSPIRES
SO RELENTLESSLY AGAINST IT.
IT'S GOOD AND NOTABLE WORK,
THE LOVING THESE POEMS TAKE UP.
AND THEY'RE VERY GOOD POEMS."
-KAVEH AKBAR, AUTHOR OF PILGRIM BELL
Matt Mitchell is an intersex writer living in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote The Neon Hollywood Cowboy (Big Lucks, 2021) and tweets @matt_mitchell48.
