Pre-Order Breathe Again: A Polyphony by Jesse Wolfe (Out September 1st)
 
Breathe Again: A Polyphony carries readers into the minds of young and old men and women, from the past and present, alone and connected to one another — reminiscing and planning, grieving and imagining. Their varied and partial journeys leave readers in uncertain hope.
 
In carefully crafted, poignant verse, Jesse Wolfe examines the mutability of existence. Vivid details of circumstance are interwoven with philosophical insight in fascinating vignettes peopled with myriad subjects whose varied perspectives exemplify the human condition. With each reading, Breathe Again: A Polyphony expands our understanding of interconnectedness and strengthens our appreciation for human multiplicity.

— Linda Scheller, author of Laurels and The Ghosts of 16 Larkin Street
 
 
This volume, like a musical polyphony, blends independent yet harmonizing personas of disparate ages and personalities. These voices evoke far-flung lands—from Andalusia to Milwaukee, from Japan to Seattle—and different eras, from 1768 Amsterdam to modern-day Los Angeles. Readers encounter grateful spouses with intact families and lonely people seeking wholeness. Jesse Wolfe’s poems are dense, elliptical, and often enigmatic, but they are well worth the attention of readers willing to undergo these journeys of the imagination.

— Salvatore Salerno, emeritus Poet Laureate of Modesto (2020–24)
 
Jesse Wolfe is the author of the poetry chapbook En Route, also available from Cathexis Northwest Press. He teaches English at California State University Stanislaus and has written two scholarly books about British modernist literature.